Calligraphy and stamps from the shikoku 88temple pilgrimage. The smell of earth and spring blooms may be on your road. The shikoku pilgrimage and its 88 temples, by tatsuo muro and david moreton. How to visit temples reception of a red ink stamp with wonderful brushwork as a memory of visit at temple no.
This circular pilgrimage route is the most famous pilgrimage in japan. Japanese 88 temple shikoku pilgrimage ceremonial stole wagesa purple. Shikoku is host to the famous 88 temple pilgrimage. Throughout my travels in asia, one of the most treasured experiences for me is acquiring temple seals in japan which are called goshuin in japanese language. In koyasan we stayed for two nights at yochiin temple, called a shukubo temple, because it accepts guests for overnight stays. All the temples on the pilgrimage will stamp your book. The 88 temple pilgrimage is a 1,200kilometre route around the perimeter of shikoku island. It should be noted that many pilgrims who begin the pilgrimage on foot do not finish it. The japan temple stamp book kawasaki, kanagawa japan.
Dec 01, 2015 japans famous henro pilgrimage trail stretches over about 1,200 kilometers, tracing the circumference of the southern island of shikoku. James in spain and the mecca pilgrimage in saudi arabia. Japan goshuin stamps 88 temples shikoku pilgrimage kimono white vest cotton vtg. If you need more information about walking the camino or to book your camino.
For instance, in 1931, alfred bohner, a german, wrote a book about the henro titled two on a pilgrimage. Upon arriving at each temple they carry out a prayer ritual and collect a stamp in a special book nokyocho while most modernday pilgrims travel by tour bus, a small minority still set out the oldfashioned way on foot, a journey which takes about six. Sep 24, 2014 shikoku pilgrimage is celebrating its 1,200th anniversary this year. The pilgrim pays the custodian at each temple or shrine to stampinscribe their book as proof of their visit. The seal stamps are often collected in books called shuincho that. Pilgrims are known as ohenrosan and traditionally wear a sedge hat, white shirt and carry a wooden staff. Since goshuin are your prove of visiting a temple, the stamp book only belongs to you and is not allowed to be shared or to be given as a gift to someone back home. Feb 25, 20 japanese pilgrimage stamp books with inscriptions. I started my collection at the worldrenowned kinkakuji temple or golden pavillion where i purchased a beautifully hand crafted nokyocho. Still one of my favourites, and definitely the one that took the most effort to prepare. Paul barach had his adventurous pilgrimage around shikoku back in 2010. Written by volunteers and periodically updated, the book contains a short introduction to the shikoku pilgrimage and detailed maps of the entire route along with a wealth of useful information to help you navigate the island and find places to eat, sleep and much more. The japanese temple redstamp notebook is a small book that you can bring to the thousands of shrines and temples around japan. A shuin is a seal stamp given to worshippers and visitors to shinto shrines and buddhist temples in japan.
The saigoku kannon pilgrimage saikoku sanjusansho junrei covers 33 temples dedicated to kannon in western japan and is the most famous of japanese pilgrimages. Shikoku pilgrimage is celebrating its 1,200th anniversary this year. The pilgrimage dates way back to the time of famous buddhist monk kukai who lived from 774 to 835. To mark the occasion, the devout trek up to the highest temple on earth, the rongbuk monastery, at the northern basecamp of mount everest, called mount qomolangma, and to the people have worshipped it for centuries. Pilgrimage stamp books shuincho, or nokyocho pilgrims usually carry a stamp book, which they typically purchase at the first temple or shrine along the circuit. Start here for the shikoku pilgrimage updated march 2019. Gosyuin is the stamp, which shows the proof of worship at each of the temples. Guide to japanese pilgrims, pilgrimages, holy mountains. The pilgrimage starts from tokushima, goes around the whole shikoku island along the coast and then eventually returns back to the starting place. Japan 88temple shikoku pilgrimage white robe uniform byakue no sleeve xxl.
The pilgrim pays the custodian at each temple or shrine to stampinscribe their book as proof of. This practice originated from a policy called tochi kinbaku. This book is called running the shikoku pilgrimage and thats presumably what people want to read about when they buy the book. Shikoku pilgrim 101 in this section of your pilgrimage in japan we will try to give you information for frequently asked questions, as well as more information about how to be a pilgrim. The shikoku pilgrimage is a pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the buddhist saint kukai. Along the way you go from temple to temple, getting a stamp from each for your travel book which will serve as your memento.
At 1200 years and 1200 kilometers, the shikoku pilgrimage is one of the worlds oldest and longest spiritual pilgrimages. Some temples only give stamps, while at others, a temple priest will handdraw the temples signature in the pilgrims book these handwritten inscriptions are often very. Was there a moment of satori buddhist enlightenment. The set consisted of 4 stamps, 2f and 8f featuring the imperial crest of manchukuo. It was established by disciples of the buddhist monk kukai, who trained at several sacred places in shikoku, and many believe this route follows his footsteps. The bag is for holding and carrying a stamp book noukyoucho for collecting red ink stamps shuin at respective temples, valuables, and other belongings. A popular and distinctive feature of the islands cultural landscape, and with a long history, large numbers of pilgrims, known as henro, still undertake the journey for a. The 1200km8week long pilgrimage route on the japanese island of shikoku. Journeys on the shikoku pilgrimage is a fascinating and moving account of the authors pilgrimage on the japanese island of shikoku. A great book with historical information on the 88 main temples on the pilgrimage.
Page one in most nokyo books is set aside for that stamp so dont forget to get it before leaving for shikoku. Since the shikoku pilgrimage is a circular route, you can begin anywhere. Of those items used specially on a pilgrimage, the staff kongozue is the most important. Statler is especially good in giving the history of the pilgrimage, describing some of the specific temples in detail, and making sense of the struggles and accommodations japan has made between the shinto and buddhist religions. If you stop at the main gate, the daishi hall daishido is in front of you on your left, the temple office and other buildings are on your right, and the main hall hondo. There are 88 official sacred temples and numerous other sacred sites where kukai known as kobo daishi is believed to have trained during the 9th century. The shikoku pilgrimage a tradition of charitable giving. If there are other locations to pay homage to within the temple, ensure you go there first. First of all, it is important to keep in mind that all temple offices along the shikoku pilgrimage route are open from 7am to 5pm, every day of the year.
The japanese temple stamp book goshuinchou the japanese temple book is one of the best kept secrets in japan. I will be spending the months of august and september 2015 walking the 1,200 km pilgrimage route around the japanese island of shikoku. It is a buddhist pilgrimage to visit 88 temples associated with the great priest kukai 774835 known as kobo daishi. In each temple in koyasan and on the pilgrim route, a monk or a nun will stamp it and write beautiful calligraphy for a fee of 300 yen, as proof of your visit. Shikoku 88 temples foot pilgrimage temple 111 tali landsman. Other implements for pilgrimage a talisman album omieire, name slips osamefuda, a book of sutras kyohon, buddhist prayer beads, incense sticks, candles, a lighter, and the like are necessary for formal visit to temples. Experience shikoku, a holy land japan monthly web magazine. Established by kukai, the founder of shingon buddhism, in the. The japanese temple stamp book, go shuin chou japan. Its literal translation is the honorable red stamp notebook. His book is entitled, fighting monks and burning mountains, and if you are thinking of coming to shikoku to experience the pilgrimage yourself i very much recommend this book.
If you collect stamps from all 88 temples, you can have them bound as a stamp book that uses speciallydesigned ornate paper. The japanese temple red stamp notebook is a small book that you can bring to the thousands of shrines and temples around japan. Was there the movement of clouds above while the light of heaven shone down upon my upward beaming and unshaven face. At the stamp area, receive a stamp goshuin on your stamp book to show that you have visited the location. Like ryozenji, ishiteji sells stamp books and other necessities for pilgrims. Rivaling these is a pilgrimage in our very backyard.
Jirei bell usually worn on your belt or attached to the top of your walking stick. Autumn colours exploding across valleys in oranges and reds may bear witness to. Among the famous ones is the shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage, but also the kumano kodo. We purchased a stamp book and name slips to fill out and drop at the various temples as. On july 1, it struck me that i was in the south of japan, in kochi, 365 days ago. To enter all but a few of the temple compounds you must pass through a gate.
You then walk down to okunoin, kobodaishis grave, on the other side of koyasan. The first thing to do is to go to kongobuji, the main temple. In addition to the official thirtythree temples, there are an additional three known as bangai. It is believed this is the embodiment of kukai, and so he is always with you to protect you on your pilgrimage. Gosyuin receive the temple stamps in your nokyocho stamp book after worshiping at the temple, go to the nokyooffice to get gosyuin. Records seem to indicate that he spent his life wandering the island of shikoku, walking the pilgrimage, and aiding other henro by setting up sign posts and building henro. Shikoku pilgrimage faq below are questions ive been frequently asked about the shikoku pilgrimage and my answers. Shikoku pilgrimage hiking tour part 2 mountain hiking. Note that the 2f stamp can be readily found in two shade, yellow green and light green. Jinta pilgrims passport book with affixed red seals of the names of sacred places the temples through the pilgrimage to the 88site shikoku circuit, attached with its gofu paper talismans as well. The henro michi, the traditional pilgrims route, is nearly 900 miles long and includes 88 buddhist temples associated with kobo daishi, the 9th century founder of. A pilgrimage trail to 88 temples in shikoku, japan mlit. Calligraphy and stamps from the shikoku 88temple pilgrimage november 10, 20 hidden japan p ilgrims who follow in the footsteps of kobo daishi around shikoku record their journey by collecting these goshuin, single sheets of paper, or in book form nokyocho, from each of the temples along the way. The shikoku japan 88 route guide is the indispensable companion for all walking henro.
What to do at the temples pilgrimage on shikoku island. Japanese 88 temple shikoku pilgrimage book of stamps nokyocho. This believe it or not was the first article i ever wrote about japan. Koya, on your right, just before the third and final foot bridge as you approach the okunoin. Kannon sometimes kanzeon or kwannon is the japanese name for the bodhisattva avalokitasvara, or bodhisattva of compassion, one of whose 33 manifestations the only female one corresponds to the. In koyasan we stayed for two nights at yochiin temple, called a shukubo temple. I watched other visitors and the procedure seemed to be to throw some coins in the donation box, ring the bell twice and pray.
Jan 01, 20 love japan, love shikoku, want to visit the 88 temples, but this travelogue for that it what it is was a dull type. It is said to take up to 3 months to complete the 1200km. You have the choice of a book, stamping your hakui, or getting a scroll stamped difficult to carry if youre a walking henro, obviously. Japanese 88 temple shikoku pilgrimage book of stamps. The shikoku ohenro pilgrimage at 1200 years and 1200 kilometers, the shikoku pilgrimage is one of the worlds oldest and longest spiritual pilgrimages. I walked the shikoku pilgrimage in the summer of 2015 and began this project shortly afterwards. Japanese 88 temple shikoku pilgrimage book of stamps nokyocho small. Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage hiking tour in japan mountain. On the upper part is written earth, water, fire, wind, voidsky in sanskrit lettering. The saigoku kannon pilgrimage, saigoku sanjusansho is a pilgrimage of thirtythree buddhist temples throughout the kansai region of japan, similar to the shikoku pilgrimage. Leading up to the main temple gate, you see another reason ishiteji is a great place to sample the pilgrimage. These temple seals are collected in small stamp books.
Its literal translation is the honorable redstamp notebook. Consisting of eighty eight temples and numerous other sacred sites the pilgrimage roughly rings the perimeter of shikoku island. Aside from the regular stamp book, a 2020 exclusive kobo daishi pilgrimage stamp book will be issued. It is often the way with americans they visit somewhere and show it to be otherworldly and how they grew or found themselves, this is in that vein. The total pilgrimage is about 1,200 km and takes about 3050 days, depending on your condition and how much you use public transport bustrain during the trip.
This trip is a natural complement to the original shikoku temple trek 1 which we are also offering in marchapril of 2019. The goshuin, as its called, is a notebook used to collect unique hand drawn calligraphy and stamps from temples and shrines all across japan. At each temple, a pilgrim receives a stamp nokyo in the form of calligraphy art handwritten in a stamp book nokyocho, along with 2 stamps on the sides. The red stamp behind this centerpiece is the stamp varies from temple to temple. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Besides getting a stamp in your book at each of the 88 main temples, there is also a stamp office on mt. Japanese signs and their translations pilgrim accommodation list of the 88 temples in english and japanese glossary getting to shikoku and sim card phone rental. The shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage tour from samurai tours. Jan 19, 20 this book is called running the shikoku pilgrimage and thats presumably what people want to read about when they buy the book.
The pilgrimage used to be popular among middleaged or older people only. We started our pilgrimage with a visit to the mountains of koyasan, the heart of esoteric shingon buddhism. Foreigners have been interested in the henro for a very long time. Others try to get the book full while doing one of the famous pilgrimages. History of the shikoku pilgrimage shikoku pilgrimage j. Japanese stampsinscriptions shuin when on pilgrimage. The stamps are around y 250300 each and the pilgrim outfit robe, hat is another y 10,000. The japanese temple stamp book, go shuin chou japan travel cafe. Thinking about walking the shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage.
I returned to ishiyamadera in september 2001, bought a nokyocho pilgrims book from the temple office and so officially started the saigoku pilgrimage. Japan goshuin stamps 88 temples shikoku pilgrimage kimono white vest. Jul 16, 2016 according to the tibetan calendar, the buddhas day of birth, enlightenment, and passing occurred on june 17 this year. In addition, most pilgrims carry a book called nokyocho or shuincho, to collect red ink stamp shuin by each temple you visit. If you collect stamps from all 88 temples, you can. Very much like miyatasans book above, it has one page on each of the temples with a short history and what to find there. The shikoku pilgrimage is a circular shaped pilgrimage on the island of shikoku in japan. At 37 yearsold amy chavez is suddenly let go from her university job, and is left wondering what to do next. It is also truly unique, as every stamp is handwritten and even friends who do the journey together will have unique books.
If you have questions or suggestions for things that need to be added, let me know. Spiritual trekthe sacred sites along the shikoku pilgrimage. Temple etiquette for pilgrims shikoku pilgrimage jpilgrim. The first such book is attributed to a priest named yuben shinnen d. At the end of the day we will drive back to our hotel in tokushima.
Of course, japanese people do not keep those book as a souvenir. Aug 09, 2009 the temple monks will stamp each page with three different imprints in red ink, and proceed to unleash a powerful array of brushstrokes to complete the picture. People who do the shikoku pilgrimage can also get shuin on the white robes they sometimes wear. A popular and distinctive feature of the islands cultural landscape, and with a long history, large numbers of pilgrims, known. Shikoku pilgrims knowns as henro, undertake the journey around shikoku island to atone for sins, to pray for health and success, in pursuit of enlightment, and to experience the mysteries of japans least developed island. Jul 01, 2012 running the shikoku pilgrimage is an account of a solo womans journey running japans 900mile buddhist pilgrimage, a distance equal to running from san diego, california to oregon. It has the temples name and the date of visit hand written in ink then a red stamp is placed on top of it. About an hours drive south of tokushima train station in the village of aratano is temple no. Oliver statlers japanese pilgrimage is an account of his pilgrimages on shikoku, an island in japan famous for its 88 temple pilgrimage route. Kobo daishi pilgrimage stamp book aside from the regular stamp book, a 2020 exclusive kobo daishi pilgrimage stamp book will be issued. It began with me wanting to compile the various budget camping lists in english and japanese for walking henro.
Spiritual trekthe sacred sites along the shikoku pilgrimage jnto. Shikoku 88 temples foot pilgrimage temple 111 tali. For those on the shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage, some still use white robes, which they have stamped and signed along the way, in place of. There are many famous religious pilgrimages in the world, such as the way of st.
The japanese island of shikoku is the birthplace of the most revered figure in japanese buddhism, the monk and teacher kobodaishi, who brought a populist form of buddhism to. By megan kitt dec 1, 2015 4 min read it was at simultaneously the most solitary and the most companionate trip of my life. Page one in most nokyo books is set aside for that stamp so dont forget to. The pilgrimage itself is over 1,400 kilometres in length, and has an image amongst the public of being harsh and difficult to complete. This book contains a stamp from each of the temples that i visited. I wrote about the 1200km i walked to complete the shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage. With a name like that, it actually makes stamp collecting sound awesome. Be sure to watch the shikoku pilgrimage episode of the sixpart pbs documentary series, sacred journeys. Manchukuo and manchurian stamps 1936 postal agreement. The nokyosho, or stamp book office, where you get you nokyo book stamped. The episode on the shikoku pilgrimage, which features the group from the 20 mountain hiking holidays shikoku pilgrimage trek, aired on december 16, 2014 on most pbs stations in the u. Hakui, or oizuru white henro jacket the price is higher if you want one with any writing on it.
Bamboo forest trails and mossy stones are on this path. All of these items can be purchased in a formal sense at mount koya or at ryozenji, the first temple. Spanning one to two months, 38 townsvillages and four prefectures, the pilgrimage will give travellers a comprehensive and stunning insight into a notsocosmopolitan part of japan. The shikoku temple trek 2 is the second of three trips we offer that are based on the twelvehundredkilometerlong shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage shikoku hachijuhachikasho meguri. But gradually, the number of young pilgrims has increased. You come to a shopping street with stalls selling traditional wares. Upon arriving at each temple they carry out a prayer ritual and collect a stamp in a special book nokyocho. On each page it says the name of the temple, the main god and then a dedication. Its been a year since i began the shikoku pilgrimage across the islands 88 buddhist temples. My noukyouchou temple stamp book was complete, i performed my final sutras for this trip and i was done.
If theres something youd like to know which hasnt already been answered, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page. Other implements for pilgrimage a talisman album omieire, name slips osamefuda, a book of sutras kyohon, buddhist prayer beads, incense sticks, candles, a lighter, and the like are. It leads one to wonder whether the reason that the book comes across as skimmedover, rushed, and ultimately unremarkable is due to the fact that chavez ran the pilgrimage rather than walked it. For him it was an experience of mixed impressions, feelings, and revelations. The japan temple stamp book kawasaki, kanagawa japan travel.
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