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The Photo of the Day: There be Dragons...
Taken in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture at one of the 88 Henro temples. This was at the chozuya, the wash basin near the entrance of the worship area. You can see the ladle, hishaku, to the right. Chozuya are usually associated with nativist shrines. The separation between Buddhism and nativist religious practices, shinto, is modern. The government in the late 1800s early 1900s had their own…
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View from the Top Part 6: Getting high at Unpenji Temple
View from the Top Part 6: Getting high at Unpenji Temple
If you haven’t been keeping up, this is an ongoing commentary on the Japanese fascination with views. I have covered ropeways, buildings, lifts, etc. I will end this series with a place that has special meaning to me, the Unpenji Temple in Kanonji, Shikoku.
I was supposed to have gone on this trip with my father, but he had passed away rather suddenly at the end of the previous year. He woke…
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Everyone gets a treat at Tatsue-ji, temple 19 of the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage. October 2024
全員にご褒美が贈られます。四国八十八ヶ所霊場第19番札所 立江寺. 2024年10月
À Shikoku
Faire de ma vie un voyage ininterrompu. * Le jour de mon départ, je suis assise, songeuse, sur la marche du temple, les pieds nus sur les planches lisses, savourant cet air humide dans lequel se côtoient fumées d’encens, émanations du bois vernis et fragrances de la nature. La pluie d’été tombe sur Koya-san. Joie simple d’écouter cette douce mélodie. Les gouttes tintent doucement sur l’auvent.…
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Photo of the Day: Pilgrim
I visited Tokushima some time ago. I had been thinking of doing the Henro pilgrimage, which visits 88 temples around the island of Shikoku. I met this woman while visiting a Awa- Odori performance. She stood out in the auditorium to say the least. I struck up a conversation with her hoping to get some good travel information. On the pilgrimage, there is a tradition called, “O-settai,” where…
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Microblog: Unpenji, Temple 66
On my continuing series of touring Japan I ask you to consider Unpenji, temple number 66 on the 88 Temple pilgrimage around Shikoku. This temple came to my attention when I read a book by Paul Barach, Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains. Barach did the 88 Temple Henro pilgrimage when he hit a rut in his life. He had been working at Microsoft and decided corporate life wasn’t for him. He…
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Autumn in Shikoku
Here is a little blast from the not to distant past – an article I wrote for Japan Today about how autumn is so great in Shikoku. Since autumn will be coming soon, and with any luck, the record levels of corona infection will crash down to virtually nothing after a wildly successful round of massive vaccinations to the public (maybe wishful thinking here…) and people will soon be flooding the…
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Re-post: EXCELLENT Pilgrimage site
Re-post: EXCELLENT Pilgrimage site
There are not many places online that deserve a reposting, very few in fact. There simply is too much out there to keep track of it all. But this blog certainly deserves a revisit. Not only is it beautiful, and navigates so smoothly, but it is fantastically intelligent and thoughtful. Planning on coming to Shikoku for your own walk of a lifetime? This site will give you inspiration and insight.…
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