No right way to complete Shikoku's 88-temple pilgrimage
"Get in the car." An old woman in thick glasses and a knitted hat gestures from her seat behind the wheel. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't consider jumping into a stranger's vehicle, especially not one that had so suddenly stopped in our path. And, in ...
A xenophobic notice calling for the exclusion of foreigners was discovered Wednesday on the route of a popular 88-temple walking course known as "Shikoku Henro" on Shikoku. The sign, found glued at a rest station in the city of Yoshinogawa, Tokushima Prefecture, read, "Let us ...
Off on a spring tangent on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage
This week 14 years ago, I finished a five-week, 1,350 km journey running the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. One of the axioms of the pilgrimage is: "You will, and must, get lost." I envision the great master Kobo Daishi, the patron saint of the pilgrimage, ...
There are no shortcuts to enlightenment, but plenty of laughs on the journey
Spring in Japan: a time to re-evaluate, to explore spiritually the choices of the upcoming fiscal year. A season of pilgrimage.
