Page 235 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

SHIK OKU  233

Temple 1: Ryozen-ji, near
Naruto, is the start and end of
the pilgrimage on Shikoku,
though devout pilgrims will
extend the start and end to
Koya-san (see p203) on Honshu,
the headquarters of the
Shingon sect. Temple stalls
sell the traditional garments
for pilgrims: straw hats, white
cotton coats, colored sashes,
and staves. Visitors sign the
book of completion here.

Gokuraku-ji is the name of Temple 2:
Gokuraku, refers to the Pure Land, or Western
Paradise, of the Amida Buddha, a fundamental
concept in Shingon Buddhism.
To Kurashiki
Okayama
Between temples 11 and 12 is an uphill
Takamatsu •
trek notorious as the “pilgrim crusher.”

Naruto
•
•
Toku-
shima

Kochi
Incense urn at Temple 24,
Hotsumisaki-ji
Key
Expressway
0 kilometers 25
Other roads
0 miles 15
Muroto
Kukai (774–835)
Kukai, who was also known as Kobo
Daishi (Great Saint) after his death,
helped to integrate Buddhism into
Japanese life. Sailing to China as a
student monk, he returned to found
Japan’s esoteric Shingon sect. Spending
most of his time in the Kansai region of
Honshu, he later returned to his native
Shingon Shikoku to visit some of its temples.
deities come in His accomplishments were legion:
both benign he invented the kana syllabary,
and, as this wrote influential religious treatises,
Fudo figure achieved lasting distinction as a
at Temple 27, poet, calligrapher, and sculptor,
Kounomine-ji, wrote Japan’s oldest extant
demonstrates, dictionary, and founded a school. Statue of Kukai
fierce guises.

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