Shikoku Pilgrimage, Temples 13 – 18

Walking with Kōbō Daishi 

Without my Japanese friends, who had now gone back to Tokyo, I was on my own. But for some reason, although there were so many uncertainties in front of me, I did not feel scared. It might have been Kōbō Daishi and the saying “dōgyō ninin”, meaning “walking with Kōbō Daishi”, which gave me courage. For sure I also loved my staff and its bell that rang with every step I took.

The pilgrim in front of me was one of very few I met at the beginning of my pilgrimage. For most people, it was too early in the season to walk. However, signs of spring were already everywhere – like the blossoming plum tree you can see in the distance.

In a village along the Akui River, the locals like life-size dolls that portray human activities. Some were very funny.

Two old men chatting with a pilgrim’s bag beside them

Dainichiji (temple 13) is a valley temple. As in most of the temples, Buddhism and the original Shinto religion are interwoven. Opposite to the temple gate, on the other side of the street is Chinomiya Jinja, a Shinton shrine. The statue embraced by the big hands in a praying position (gassho)  depicts Kannon, the Buddha of Compassion.  The sculpture in front of the big hands depicts a dragon holding a sword, surrounded by fire. It represents Fudō Myōō, expressing insight and wisdom. He is the protector and messenger of Dainichi Vairocana, the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of emptiness.

Fudō Myōō

The area I walked through was not as urbanized as at the beginning of my pilgrimage. Many glasshouses provided shelter for the vegetables.

Immediately after the entrance gate, every temple has a water fountain for the cleansing ritual. With a ladle, one first rinses the left and then the right hand before cleansing the mouth. The rest of the water in the ladle is emptied over the handle. Cleaning hands and mouth means purifying body and mind.

Typically, the water sprouts out of a dragon’s mouth

After the cleansing ritual, the pilgrim rings the bell in the bell tower to announce his or her arrival. The bell is rung by pulling a big, wooden beam backwards (shown in photo above).

The rock underneath the carefully trimmed tree is a foundation stone of a former pagoda in Kokubunji, temple 15. Kokubunji is one of the four provincial temples of Shikoku.

At Idoji, temple 17, the little son of a priest was allowed to play with the gong.

Grounds of Idoji (temple 17). After having left my main back bag on a bench, in every temple I did the rituals in front of the main hall and the Daishi hall: lighting a candle and incense, ringing the gong (photo below) with the cord, putting the name – slip in the box, donating money and chanting the heart sutra.

Main hall of Idoji (temple 17) meaning sacred well.  Legend says that Kūkai once dug a well in one night with his staff.

Well of Idoji is to the right

The ceiling of Idoji

100,000 pilgrims per year participate in the Shikoku pilgrimage. Traveling in a bus and in groups is more popular than going on foot. Of the 100,000 pilgrims, only about 2,500 ohenros walk. Most of the walking ohenros walk the pilgrimage in stages over many years.

Bus pilgrims

Several times and in different temples, I met the same group of pilgrims. This time, I met familiar faces at Onzanji, temple 18.

Although I packed light, I still had unnecessary things with me. At a grocery store, I shipped a package to my friend in Tokyo with things I could be without. The hardest to let go was Basho’s book “The narrow road to the North.”

In the photo above, the lady is copying the address Yuko wrote down for me in Japanese. She wears a face mask, like many Japanese people do. To communicate, it was crucial that I had Japanese phrases with Japanese writings readily available. Even before my pilgrimage started, Yuko was sending useful sentences to my iPhone. The Google translator on the I-phone was only sometimes helpful. Most of the time, the translations did not make sense.

I often passed houses which were abandoned and deteriorating, but still beautiful.