A South Korean living in Seoul has become the first non-Japanese woman to qualify as a guide for the 88-temple pilgrimage course in Shikoku.
Choi Sang-hee, 38, who received her license in December, hopes to see more of her compatriots make the pilgrimage, believing it would help transform relations between her country and Japan.
"South Koreans will change their impressions of Japan" if they walk the course, she said.