SHIKOKU, Japan - It is 4. a.m. Inside a tiny Japanese inn near ruralHirata, a white-haired Western gentleman slips quietly from his futon,folds the bedding carefully, lifts himself to his feet and shuffles acrossthe tatami mat floor to the wash stand. Seven others begin to stir and soonthey too are preparing themselves for the long, hard day ahead.

A breakfast of soup, raw egg over rice, fish, seaweed and tea isserved by the inn's elderly proprietor and the eight travelers consume allthat was laid before them. Then the six men and two women don short whiterobes, silk sashes and wide straw hats, and with walking staffs in hand,they file out into the misty pre-dawn morning and move down the lane towardthe shadowy mountain range looming in the distance.

The white-haired man is Oliver Statler, author of the best seller "Japanese Inn" and other works on Japan. He and his student companions,dressed in the clothes of Japanese buddhist "henro" (or pilgrim), arebeginning the last stretch of a substantial portion of the Shikokupilgrimage.

For more than 1,000 years, countless Japanese henro have come toShikoku to pray at the 88 Buddhist temples built along the 1,000 mileperimeter of this southern Japanese island a half day's train ride fromTokyo.

Seeking Healing Powers
Most were commoners. Some were the old or infirm who sought out thehealing powers of the Compassionate Buddha and the priests who maintainedhis temples. Crutches and braces stacked near the glittering temple altarsof lacquered wood and gold bear witness to the curative aspects of thepilgrimage.

Others among the thousands of men and women who walked all or partof the henro path each year, were drawn by the physical and mentalchallenges presented by the often grueling journey through Shikoku'smountainous countryside. The experience developed a participant'scharacter and confidence in the same manner these qualities are fosteredtoday among army recruits during basic training.

There were also those who endured the pilgrimage simply to givethanks for life's rewards. Prayers, money and gifts were offered at eachtemple to the Buddha, the temple's patron deity, and to Kobo Daishi, a veryspecial personage revered throughout Japan.

Kobo Daishi transmitted Shingon Buddhism from China to Japan in thelate eighth century and modified it to work in the Japanese context. Thismost famous native son of Shikoku is described by one contemporary scholaras "...one of the most colorful and charismatic figures in the religioushistory of Japan."

He is also greatly admired for his accomplishments as a linguist, painter, sculptor, calligrapher, a gifted poet and prose writer. And he iscredited with initiating a number of ambitious engineering projects, someof which remain intact to the present day. He is the embodiment of all thatis good - all that is Japanese.

Much legend surrounds this deeply religious figure. Kobo Daishi issaid to have been the first henro to walk the path around Shikoku,establishing each of the 88 temples on sacred ground along the way. Overthe centuries following his death in 835, pilgrims have insisted that KoboDaishi, in disguise, still walks the henro path to lend assistance topilgrims who waver from the trail. The staffs henro carry symbolize KoboDaishi's support. Written in Sanskrit and Japanese on their handles is theinscription: "We two walk together."

To the side of each main temple is a smaller one dedicated solely toKobo Daishi. Japanese often give more generously at this smaller edifice,demonstrating the strength of their affection for a uniquely JapaneseBuddhist spiritual leader.

There are not many walking henro today. Long stretches of the henropath which wind through Shikoku's forested mountains and along itsbeautiful seacoast have been widened and paved. Now henro in private carsor on chartered buses speed by the very few walking pilgrims, but they nolonger reap many of the rewards their ancestors once did from theexperience.

"The pilgrimage is an ascetic experience," explains Oliver Statler.

"An ascetic experience is one of mental and physical challenge andthese challenges are absent for the bus henro."

Mr. Statler came back to shikoku this year with his companions tocover the only 200 mile segment he had not walked previously. It was not apainless journey. Badly blistered and broken down feet, sore muscles anddehydration plagued the group for the entire two weeks needed to cover thedistance between temples 33 and 40.

But what the ordeal took from the body it returned ten fold to the spirit. The shared hardship taught members of the group the value of team effort in meeting the mental and physical obstacles that lay in their path. The successful completion of each day, however tough the going, strengthened the group's resolve to push ahead the following morning. Morale seemed to improve even as the problems with blistered feet and heat rash became a serious hindrance to progress. The great sense of accomplishment and well-being felt by members of the group at journey's end gave them some small insight into the meaning of the pilgrimage for Japanese.

There were other rewards, Japanese from all walks of life offered material as well as moral support to the foreign pilgrims. Shop keepers often greeted the henro with gifts of ice-cream, cool drinks, watermelon and vegetables. A young bus driver gave 100 yen to each of the henro. A rural housewife gave each 500 yen. Both explained that their parents had received such aid years ago when they had walked the henro path. The foreigner's stereotype of the Japanese economic animal was shattered by Japanese warmth and generosity.

Farmer's Warning
The last stretch of the Shikoku pilgrimage for Mr. Statler and his friends was to be a difficult one. By dawn of the last day, they reached the base of the mountain range they had to cross to reach Kanjisaiji, home to temple 40. A vegetable farmer, whose family worked the upper reaches of the valley where the old henro path began up the face of the mountain,pointed the way to the pilgrims. He warned them that the path was steep andeasily lost in the undergrowth as it is not traveled frequently.

The farmer's warning proved justified. The narrow path steepenedsharply as the group moved up the 2,000-foot slope and was soon lost inheavy underbrush. A boy in shorts and sandals appeared suddenly fromnowhere and with his guidance the group pulled themselves inch by inch upthe last 200 years of the mountain's near vertical face and again pickedup the henro's ancient route along the mountain's ridge.

The young guide disappeared before the exhausted henro dropped theirpacks and broke out a snack of hard-boiled eggs and water, but shortlythereafter the vegetable farmer was seen coming along the path. The farmerhad seen them struggling up the mountainside and had come to make certainof their safety. After thanking him for his concern, they asked about theboy who had helped them find their way. The farmer looked puzzled. He saidhe knew of no such boy living nearby and had not passed anyone on the pathcoming up the mountain.

The group fell silent. None believed they had really seen Kobo Daishidisguised as a boy, but the stories of how he had appeared through thecenturies to give assistance to those lost on the henro path played ontheir minds for the rest of the day.