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Shikoku Pilgrimage Tokushima
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Shikoku Pilgrimage Tokushima

Shikoku Pilgrimage using a self-directed WalkJapan tour where they schedule accommodations and provide transportation options and baggage forwarding as needed. Not all Tokushima temples were included as this was a "best of" type of tour. Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 31, 2024
    Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Start

    March 31, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Can't complain about TSA Precheck. The JAL lobby was very crowded but it only took about 15 minutes to check my bag and another 15 minutes to clear TSA. The regular TSA line was very long! Now I wait an hour for boarding to start.Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Flight

    March 31, 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    The flight is only about half full so while I have an aisle seat, the window seat next to me is empty. Score!

    While I had glasses in high school (the 1970s) which were photo-reactive, this is the first airliner I have ridden with photo-reactive windows rather than pull down plastic shield.

    They served the meal early in the flight and you had the option of chicken pasta or mabo tofu. I should have gone for the mabo tofu.

    An hour before arrival we were served a snack consisting of tuna salad in a bun and a Hagen Daz ice cream. The lid for the ice cream contained a plastic scoop, a neat solution to that problem. Made me think of the old Meadow Gold ice cream cup which you needed to get the separate wood scoop or you were out of luck.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Wakayama Castle

    April 1, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 61 °F

    After checking into my hotel near Wakayama Station, I took a 30 minute walk to Wakayama Castle to do some night sakura viewing.

    The sakura was near full bloom, but the hanami festivities were pretty tame and low-key. At least in comparison with the last time I was in Japan for sakura. That was in Kyoto in 2007 and the noise, activity, and crowds were almost overwhelming. I'm not sure if the difference is the city or a change caused by COVID.

    There were a lot of food vendors but no lines and I enjoyed takoyaki and fried noodles.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Morning

    April 2, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

    Looks like decent weather today for my visit to Kimii-dera and the Wakaura area for sakura viewing. The forecast is for partly cloudy until afternoon when clouds will take over.

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Kimii-dera

    April 2, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    The sakura was in full bloom and Kimii-dera was an amazingly beautiful temple. I got there early to avoid the crowds and after spending an hour touring the grounds, I got my first goshuin stamp. I left just as I saw the first bus load of tourists arriving.
    The daunting steps to get up to the temple is not a problem as it is optional. You can drive or take an elevator to avoid most of the climb.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Wakanoura Area

    April 2, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    I decided to bunch these locations together since they are linked by the Sound of Waves Path, a neat public trail which networks the Shrines and public park areas.

    There was a convenient 7-11 located just before the Kishu Tosho-gu Shrine so I could get my food and drinks for lunch.

    The Kishu Tosho-gu shrine has amazing artwork in its central shrine, but alas, they forbid photography. They had a QR to access a website showing the artwork.

    I wandered through Miterai-Ike Park then climbed the steps to the Wakaura Tenman-gu Shrine to access the Sound of Waves Path. From there it was an easy walk to reach the observation tower which provided a wrap around view of Wakayama and where I had my 7-11 lunch.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Walk on a Rainy Day

    April 3, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    Expected to rain all day. At least it isn't a heavy rain, just a constant light rain. I had planned to walk to the Wakayama Ferry Terminal with a stop at Wakayama Castle, but now I will walk directly, about 3 miles, in order to get used to doing the Pilgrimage in rain.

    The hotel provides a complimentary breakfast to start my day. Otherwise it would be a stop at 7-11, Family Mart, or Lawson's.

    The walk was pleasant enough though I will need to remember to dry off the backpack and umbrella at the hotel. I still have the walk from the Tokushima Ferry Terminal to my hotel at Tokushima Station, about another 3 mile walk.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Ferry Ride

    April 3, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    Large vehicle and people transporting ferry, similar to the Seattle ferries, but there were very few seats and most of these are reserved. There were carpeted areas for guests and many of these users chose to take a nap during the 2-hour transit.Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    High winds, no ropeway

    April 3, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 64 °F

    The ropeway up to Mount Bizan just started night time operations on April 1, presumably in time for the sakura viewing at Bizan Park. I planned to ride it for both the night light up for the sakura at Bizan Park as well as night shots of Tokushima.

    When I arrived at the lower station, I found out the ropeway rides were cancelled due to high winds, so I was out of luck. Tokushima is your typical Japanese industrial small city...ugly. But at night time it gets quieter and much more beautiful.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Seibu Park

    April 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    I decided to reverse the order, and rather than climb to Bizan Park then walk to Seibu Park, I would walk to Seibu Park, take an easier climb to Bizan Park, then take the ropeway back down.

    Getting to the JR station nearest Seibu Park was harder than I expected. Having just come from Wakayama where JR West ran the trains, I used ICOCA card and didn't think about the fare. In Shikoku, JR Shikoku ran the trains and IC cards are not used. I was confused when there were no readers so I waved my ICOCA card to the worker manning the station and he pointed to the ticket machine. You had to figure out the fare, buy a ticket for that amount, then have it stamped by the worker. When you get off, another worker will collect it, which was hilarious since the train was full and he was just grabbing tickets as the mob passed through.Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Bizan Park

    April 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    From Seibu Park to Bizan Park, it was a steady uphill climb on a winding road, which took about an hour. Going to Seibu Park there were a lot of people walking the route for exercise. On the road from there to Bizan Park, there were more people walking down to Seibu Park, presumably guests at a hotel located next to Bizan Park doing a sakura tour.

    The view of Tokushima City was quite nice, thanks to some sunny moments. The ride down on the ropeway was much appreciated since I was tired from the uphill climb.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Ryozen-ji (T1)

    April 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Since I arrived early, I did the first (and second) temples to get used to the routine.

    At Ryozen-ji there is a store selling Pilgrimage supplies, like the stamp book (nokyocho), "business card" slips (osamefuda), candles, incense, lighter. The only henro apparel I bought was the white bag to carry the supplies.

    So I went through the temple rituals:
    Bowing at gate before entering and leaving,
    Cleansing your hands and mouth,
    Ringing the bell,
    Praying at the main temple,
    Praying at the secondary temple (Kobo Daishi).

    After that I got my first temple stamp.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Otorii-en

    April 4, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Checked into the first accommodation set up with the WalkJapan Tour, Otorii-en, located next door to the first temple, Ryozen-ji.

    There were two others booked on the WalkJapan tour, Rebecca and Aisha, two middle-aged UK tourists, though I wouldn't get to meet them until the next night.Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Dainichi-ji (T4)

    April 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    First temple with the Pilgrimage Path going outside the residential area, through a forest area.

    Heading there, a rest station was set up by an American (New Yorker) who now spent most the time in Shikoku. He offered a lanai to rest on with coffee, drinks, snacks and I ended up talking with him for 15 minutes. I realized how much I missed talking in English.Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Jizo-ji (T5)

    April 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    A straight shot down from T4 but construction might have altered the path. I ended up entering an associated temple (Jizoji Temple Gohyaku Rakan) and was confused until I checked my henro app.

    Jizo-ji had a particularly nice Daishido.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Temple Stay

    April 5, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Stayed at the Anraku-ji lodgings. The room was spartan and the meals served were vegetarian.

    There was a prayer session with a temple monk after dinner. We prepared 3 items:
    Filled a name slip, osamefuda,
    Wrote a wish attached to a leafy twig,
    Wrote the name of an ancestor on a wood slat.

    The prayer session included submitting the osamefuda, lighting a candle which flowed down a water channel "stream" and planted the wish twig, then burning the ancestor slat in a pyre as a remembrance.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Fujii-dera (T11)

    April 6, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    This temple got short changed since we were eager to start the difficult hike to the next temple so we could comfortably meet the scheduled pickup time with a taxi at the conclusion of the hike.

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    The Hard Hike

    April 6, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    The trail between Fujii-dera (T11) and Shosan-ji (T12) is 9 miles with an elevation gain of 3,500 feet and requires three peaks to be topped. It took over 6 hours of often strenuous hiking to complete and is one of the hardest legs in the Pilgrimage.

    It started out easy with a taxi drive from the Anraku-ji Shukubo to Fujii-dera. After finishing the temple, it was an amazingly beautiful and physically taxing day with absolute relief when the three WalkJapan participants reached the pickup site on time for a scheduled taxi drive to our next stay.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Shosan-ji (T12)

    April 6, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Another temple I short changed because I still needed to walk a mile to reach the taxi pick-up location, so I finished up the temple ASAP.

    I remember the relief I felt when I reached the temple gate with my clothes thoroughly soaked in sweat from the exertion and humid conditions.

    This is the temple I donated money for a watercolor of the temple done by a Dutch graphics artist named Amaya.    Read more

  • Ls96789Shikoku Pilgrimage TokushimaTraveler

    Hotel Shiki No Sato

    April 6, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    After the hike we had a scheduled taxi take us to the Kamiyama Hot Springs where a traditional Japanese style room (futon, no bed) awaited, but so did the first onsen of the trip.

    The meals (dinner and breakfast) were excellent and was greatly appreciated. To sleep I had to use two futons and two pillows to get comfortable.

    After breakfast another scheduled taxi took us to the start of the next long hike. Along the way we passed an amazing row of weeping Sakura in full bloom.    Read more

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