For Andrew (the scribe), it’s a two walk year. For Sam & Max, it’s their graduation present after completing their respective university degrees, and a chance to go for a long walk before the reality of having a day job restricts their ability to head somewhere for two months!
The Shikoku pilgrimage (also known as Henro) is credited to Kobo Daishi (aka Kukai) who lived between 772 and 835 and founded Shingon Buddhism in Japan, who lived or spent time at many of the temple locations. There are recorded instances of people making the pilgrimage as far back as the 12th century, but it wasn’t until the 17th century – when a guidebook was published – that the pilgrimage gained in popularity.
We are planning to walk the entire 1,200km, but many people do it by car or bus, so I guess we have an opt out if the going gets tough. The plan is for Susan to join us at temple 70 to enjoy (???) the pilgrimage experience.
This walk was always on the radar screen but actually deciding to do it was relatively last minute. Items to pack were being delivered up until day -1 ( including a refresh of wet weather gear as September is typhoon season!) and therefore Japanese language lessons were almost entirely absent. We’ll be field testing Google translate as a result – although Sam has been designated team interpreter as he has already mastered key words like please, thank you, and cheers.
2saunter 