Best of Shikoku Pilgrimage

The tour starts in Matsuyama, in Ehime Prefecture. Your first temple visit is to No. 60 Yokomine-ji. Located in the foothills of Mt. Ishizuchi, it’s renowned as one of the most difficult to access. The next stop is No. 64 Maegami-ji, once a Shintō shrine associated with Mt. Ishizuchi. No. 58 Senyū-ji on a mountainside outside Imabari has magnificent temple guardians. The next temple is No. 52 Taisan-ji whose belfry has remarkable scenes of heaven and hell. The last temple of the day is No. 51 Ishite-ji, associated with Emon Saburō, considered the first pilgrim. Your accommodation is a luxurious onsen ryokan hotel in the spa town of Dōgo where a luxurious course dinner is served (included).

The day starts with a climb up to Kuma Highland where you visit No. 44 Daihō-ji in a forest of massive trees, and No. 45 Iwaya-ji built into a rocky mountainside. The beautiful Niyodo River rises in the highland, and you follow it down into Kōchi Prefecture. No. 36 Shōryū-ji is located on a peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. Kūkai is said to have produced a spring at No. 35 Kiyotaki-ji, the last stop. The day’s journey ends in Kōchi City, with dinner at the popular and convivial Hirome Market. Your accommodation is a smart, modern hotel in the centre of town.

Your first stop today is Katsurahama Beach with its statue of Sakamoto Ryōma gazing out over the Pacific. Then you head around Kōchi Bay to No. 31 Chikurin-ji, a lovely leafy temple with a tall red pagoda. Next you visit No. 26 Kongōchō-ji where Kūkai debated a tengu. The next stop, No. 27 Kōnomine-ji is one of the difficult to reach temples situated 632 m above sea level. The last stop of the day is No. 24 Hotsumisaki-ji and the nearby lighthouse at the end of the Muroto Peninsula. Tonight’s accommodation is an old hotel on the peninsula popular with pilgrims, where dinner is served (included).

The first stop is at Mikuro Cave where Kūkai lived when he sought enlightenment. Then you head up the eastern side of the Muroto Peninsula into Tokushima, to No. 23 Yakuō-ji. Here you can protect yourself from bad fortune by placing coins on the steep steps. At No. 22 Byōdō-ji, Kūkai dug a well for the consecration of this temple. You take a cable car to get No. 21 Tairyū-ji, situated high up in the mountains with a view over much of Shikoku. No. 20 Kakurin-ji is another beautiful mountaintop temple, featuring several statues of sacred cranes. You stay at a comfortable onsen hotel, where dinner is served (included).

The day starts with a visit to No. 14, Jōraku-ji, site of a touching miracle. Next stop is No. 15 Awa Kokubun-ji, one of only three Zen temples on the pilgrimage. No. 1 Ryōzen-ji is where many pilgrims start, although traditionally, pilgrims have started from where they happen to enter Shikoku. The next temple, No. 2 Gokuraku-ji is visited by women seeking easy childbirth. At No. 8 Kumadani-ji, you can see the temple gate which is considered to be the finest of all 88 temples. The last stop is No. 88 Ōkubo-ji in Kagawa Prefecture, the last temple for many pilgrims. Your accommodation is a modern hotel by the sea, where dinner is served (included).

The mountains of Kagawa Prefecture have a distinctive shape, and none more so than Mt. Yashima. The first stop is at No. 84 Yashima-ji atop this dramatic plateau. No. 85 Yakuri-ji is near the site of an ancient battle in the Genpei War. Kagawa takes its name from the next temple, No. 82 Negoro-ji, where a fragrant river flowed from the base of a tree there. No. 81 Shiromine-ji has some of the oldest buildings on the pilgrimage, dating back to the seventeenth century. At No. 73 Shusshaka-ji, the young Kūkai took a death-defying leap from imposing Mt. Gahaishi. Your final stop is No. 75 Zentsū-ji, a very large temple complex and the place of Kūkai’s birth. Your last night is spent in a luxurious onsen ryokan, where dinner is served (included).

After visiting Konpira Shrine (optional), you can take convenient public transport from Kotohira to Takamatsu Airport or Station for your onward journey.