{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}
This information is being put together from many sources. In addition to my personal notes, a list of my resources can be found on the Pilgrimage Books & Papers page. The goeika and honzon mantra are from www.bekkaku.com. The links for each of the temple's honzon (main deity) go to an explanation of that deity on the Shingon Buddhist International Institute web site at www.shingon.org.
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Ryūkōin is located between Temples 40 and 41 and is the Okunoin of Temple 40. Originally located on the island of Kushima and moved here at a later date. Some guidebooks say it was founded by Kōbō Daishi and originally called Ganjōji. A web site dedicated to the Bangai Temples says it was founded by Eiyu Jōnin.
There is a huge statue of Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) on the hil behind the Hōndō so be sure to climb a little higher and visit that. Also look for the stone with a haiku by Basho cut into it.
The head priest of this temple is (was?) the younger brother of T. Miyata of the Los Angeles Kōyasan Temple (1999).
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Shūsekiji is located between Temples 43 and 44. Legend says it was founded by Dōkyō Hōshi.
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Eitokuji is located between Bangai Temple 7 and Temple 44. While the temple's name is officially Eitokuji, the name used by everyone is Tōyogabashi (Ten Nights Bridge) because of the legend associated with the bridge itself.
Legend has it that while in the area during the coldest part of winter, Kōbō Daishi went from house to house knocking on doors and asking for shelter. However, he was refused everywhere and ended up having to sleep under the bridge. He composed the following verse: "They will not help a traveler in trouble - This one night seems like ten."
The temple was founded by Kōbō Daishi and a reclining image of him is enshrined under the bridge. Since the time it was constructed, the temple has been destroyed numerous times from flooding. Now it is made of concrete and Kōbō Daishi lies under thick futons. Both the Daishi and the temple belong to the nearby Eitokuji.
The statue of the reclining Daishi is popularly called Nojuku Daishi.
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Tokuseiji is located between Temples 47 and 48. It was founded by Kōbō Daishi.
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Kōryūji is located between Temples 59 and 60 and was founded by Kūhachi Jōnin.
In the hills on the west side of Tōyo City.
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Shōzenji is located between Bangai Temple 10 and Temple 60 in Tōyo City. It was founded by Kōbō Daishi.
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Enmeiji is located between Temples 64 and 65 and was founded by Gyōgi Bosatsu. It is commonly known as the Temple of the Cripple's Pine (Izarimatsuji) or the Semmai-dōshi Temple. Semmai-dōshi is a very thin piece of paper on which one of the Buddha's names is written. The devotee swallows it with water for good health. It means, literally, a thousand consecrations and is bound in the form of a small label.
According to legend, Kōbō Daishi met a disabled man here while walking what would become the pilgrimage. Daishi gave the man a Semmai-dōshi, on which a secret letter was inscribed, and when the man swallowed it he was immediately cured. Daishi then ordained him and gave him the name Hōnin. The temple has since become famous for shipping these Semmai-dōshi throughout Japan.
The Semmai-dōshi is also good for an easy child-birth as well as any other sickness. While swallowing it with water, recite the Goohōgō Matra three times before swallowing. It will make you feel better and comfort you. Many people also take them home as spiritual charms. Temple records show that the there have been many instances of miraculous healings through its Semmai-dōshi.
The name Izarimatsu comes from the legend of a crippled man who stayed near a pine tree near here. The tree has recently died, but its roots still remain.
