Setsubun is over and it is officially springtime in Japan. So what if it's still cold — happy spring! And spring means cherry blossoms, a new school year and, of course, pilgrimaging! This spring, many people will set out on the pilgrimage of a lifetime as they walk, bicycle, bus or drive the Shikoku 88-temple route. I myself try to get down to Shikoku once a year to do a bit of holy hiking. It helps keep me balanced, and in shape.
Some people choose to walk the Shikoku pilgrimage in order to follow as closely as possible in the footsteps of Kobo Daishi, the patron saint of the route. If you decide to walk the whole pilgrimage at once, it will take four to five weeks at 35 to 40 km per day.
If you've been thinking about doing the Shikoku Pilgrimage here are a few tips from the girl who wrote the book on it — me! These tips, by the way, are not included in the book, so consider this an extra chapter bonus. Or a kind of epilogue of "Oh no, I forgot to tell you!"s.