16May09: Andrew Guinn

Until visiting this pair of temples, the final two of the pilgrimage, my the main focus of my experiences with henro has been simply visiting the temples themselves. Each of the eighty-eight temples of course is beautiful and unique, a treasure in and of itself; the buildings, relics and gardens of the temple grounds all contain an almost unfathomable depth of history and spiritual density.

The trek between temples eighty-seven and eighty-eight, however, revealed a very different - and perhaps more important - facet of henro: the journey itself. Henro is, of course, a pilgrimage, a long and at times difficult circuit that traces the perimeter of Shikoku. While walking between these temples, I came to understand the journey between the temples as more defining to the experience of henro than the temples themselves. It is in the time and space between the temples that the pilgrim can reflect not only on the temples but also on the uniqueness of Shikoku as a place. The numerous mountains that must be crossed while trekking between temples also add a great degree of challenge, especially during the hot and humid summer months. And one cannot help but consider the hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims who have also walked the same paths.