- Evocative photographs of one of the world's most famous pilgimages - All 88 temples illustrated and discussed - Includes accounts by former pilgrims The Shikoku Pilgrimage on the island of the same name is one of the few circular pilgrimages in the world. At 1,200 kilometers in length, the trail includes 88 temples and passes through diverse countryside such as idyllic bamboo groves, deserted beaches and ordinary Japanese neighborhoods. There is a long tradition of pilgrimage in Japan, dating back at least to the time of the renowned monk, poet and philosopher Kobo Daishi (774-825) who is particularly associated with this trail. John Lander, long-time resident of Japan, author and photographer, has visited and recorded every temple in evocative images, as well as providing fascinating details about the origin of the trail and what the pilgrimage means to the thousands who undertake it every year. The pilgrimage is undertaken for many reasons - to have a time of reflection away from everyday life, as a spiritual journey or as a healing period after a traumatic life experience. Along the way, pilgrims will encounter ordinary Japanese people and learn to understand the custom of o-settai, or charitable giving.

This study involves a fourteen-hundred-kilometer-long pilgrimage around Japan's fourth largest island, Shikoku. In traveling the circuit of the eighty-eight Buddhist temples that make up the route, pilgrims make their journey together with Kobo Daishi (774-835), the holy miracle-working figure who is at the heart of the pilgrimage. Once seen as a marginal practice, recent media portrayal of the pilgrimage as a symbol of Japanese cultural heritage has greatly increased the number of participants, both Japanese and foreign. In this absorbing look at the nature of the pilgrimage, Ian Reader examines contemporary practices and beliefs in the context of historical development, taking into account theoretical considerations of pilgrimage as a mode of activity and revealing how pilgrimages such as Shikoku may change in nature over the centuries. This rich ethnographic work covers a wide range of pilgrimage activity and behavior, drawing on accounts of pilgrims traveling by traditional means on foot as well as those taking advantage of the new package bus tours, and exploring the pilgrimage's role in the everyday lives of participants and the people of Shikoku alike. that have shaped it in the past and in the present, including history and legend; the island's landscape and residents; the narratives and actions of the pilgrims and the priests who run the temples; regional authorities; and commercial tour operators and bus companies.

During a culture-shocked exchange year in Japan, fifteen-year-old Lisa Dempster’s imagination is ignited by the story of the henro michi, an arduous 1200 kilometre Buddhist pilgrimage through the mountains of Japan. Perfectly suiting the romantic view of herself as a dusty, travel-worn explorer (well, one day), she promises to return to Japan and walk the henro michi, one way or another, as soon as humanely possible. Fast-forward thirteen years, and Lisa’s life is vastly different to what she pictured it would be. Severely depressed, socially withdrawn, overweight, on the dole and living with her mum, she is 28 and miserable. And then, completely by chance, the henro michi comes back into her life, through a book at her local library. It’s a sign. She decides then and there to go back to Japan almost immediately: to walk the henro michi, and walk herself back to health. Brushing aside the barriers that other people might find daunting – the 1200km of mountainous terrain, the sweltering Japanese summer, the fact she has no money and has never done a multi-day hike before – Lisa is determined to walk the pilgrimage, or die trying.