{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--BOOKS & PAPERS ABOUT THE PILGRIMAGE--

-GENERAL INFORMATION-

Books:

• A Critical Analysis of the Buddhist 88-Temple Pilgrimage on Shikoku Island, Japan, by Ryofu PUSSEL. I haven't read this yet so can't critique it or say anything at all. But, according to it's Amazon.com entry, "This book analyzes the 88-temple pilgrimage on Shikoku Island, Japan, regarding its religious, historical, and sociological aspects."
  Xlibris Corporation, 2010

• A Sense of Direction: Pilgrimage for the Restless and the Hopeful, by Gideon LEWIS-KRAUS. Gideon walks three pilgrimages, the Camino, Shikoku, and one in the Ukraine in order, as i understand it, to "find himself." I haven't read it yet but have been told that one chapter is specifically about his walk of the henro trail on Shikoku. Another 'known henro' who has read it told me: "Though it starts off well it quickly wears out its welcome; caution recommended."
  Riverhead Books, 2012

• Dead to the World: Pilgrims in Shikoku. Ian READER. This is chapter 4 in a book entitled Pilgrimage in Popular Culture, edited by Ian READER and Tony WALKER. The chapter lays out the history and practice of the pilgrimage in clear, but concise, terms.
  Macmillan Press, 1993

• Echos of Incense: A Pilgrim in Japan. Don WEISS. An account of his two back-to-back trips around the island in 1993 and written in both Japanese and English (on facing pages). Available online. It's hard to find an affordable physical copy of the book, but it's possible that Don may have a few copies left over at a reasonable price if you email him.
  Online document

• Fighting Monks And Burning Mountains: Misadventures On A Buddhist Pilgrimage. Paul BARACH. An account of his summer 2010 walk of the pilgrimage with all the stories of his (mis)adventures. A great introduction to camping out on the henro trail. The author calls it part travel memoir and part henro guide. I've read it and recommend it. My review is here
  Sky Dagger Press, 2014

• Japanese Pilgrimage. Oliver STATLER. This is the grandfather of all English language books written about the pilgrimage. He spent about three months walking the pilgrimage in 1971 and this is a thoughtful and insightful accounting of that trip and another partial trip in 1968, with enough history (although partly fictionalized) to help us understand the big picture. An absolute 100% must read for anyone contemplating walking the pilgrimage.
  Pan Books, 1984

• Legends, Miracles, and Faith in Kōbō Daishi and the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Ian READER. Chapter 34 in the book Religions of Japan in Practice, which was edited by George TANABE, Jr. I mention this book in both this section, because of this chapter, and in the general religious foundations section below because it is a great reference with a lot of pertinent material in general.
  Princeton University Press, 1999

• Making Pilgrimages: Meaning And Practice in Shikoku. Ian READER's latest book on the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Nothing really new, if you've read the rest of his material. This is a very wide ranging ethnographic study of the henro culture and how that has and does fit into Japanese society more than a specific study of the history, customs, and practicies of the pilgrimage itself.
  University of Hawaii Press, 2006

• Neon Pilgrim. Lisa DEMPSTER's account of her summer 2009 walk around the henro trail. More information is available on Lisa's blog. My review of the book is here, on my blog. Probably worth reading if you are going to camp out each night.
  Aduki Independent Press, 2009

• Pilgrimage as Cult: The Shikoku Pilgrimage as a Window on Japanese Religion. Ian READER. Chapter 12 in a book entitled Religion in Japan: Arrows to Heaven and Earth, edited by P.F. KORNICKI and I.J. McMULLEN. The title says it all; this is a comparative study of ways in which the pilgrimage on Shikoku can be used as a tool for looking at the broader picture of Japanese Religion as a whole.
  Cambridge University Press, 1996

• Running the Shikoku Pilgrimage: 900 Miles to Enlightenment. Amy CHAVEZ, an American living in Japan. A recounting of her trip around the henro trail in 1998.
  Volcano Press, 2013

• Sacred Kōyasan: A Pilgrimage to the Mountain Temple of Saint Kōbō Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha. Phillip NICOLOFF. A very well written introduction to Mt. Kōya with everything you ever wanted to know about its history, function, inhabitants, and relationship to Shikoku.
  State University of New York Press, 2008

• Selected Stories from the Shikoku Reigen Kiōki. David MORETON, Translator. A selection of 37 of the original 100 spiritual and miraculous tales related to the 88 main temples on the henro trail, originally collected in the 1825 three-volume set of the same name.
  Education Publishing Center
  Tokushima, Japan
  2013

• Tales of a Summer Henro. Craig McLACHLAN, a New Zelander living in Japan, wrote this account of his walk of the pilgrimage during the summer of 1995. I think he makes it clear that summer is not the season to be out on the trail. A good primer and a should read for anyone planning to sleep outside every night (nojuku suru).
  Yohan Publications, Inc., 1997

• The 1918 Shikoku Pilgrimage of Takamure Itsue: an English translation of Musume Junreiki. Susan TENNANT. Takamure Itsue's Musume Junreiki (The Pilgrimage Journal Of A Young Woman) is the compilation of 105 newspaper articles that Takamure wrote during her 1918 pilgrimage. The book was first published in 1979 after Takamure's articles were found in a storage warehouse of the Kumamoto newspaper company.

  While i haven't read the book yet, according to Susan, "Takamure intended to make a solitary pilgrimage but met an old man of 73 who insisted on accompanying her as her servant and guardian because he believed she was an attendant of Kannon Bosatsu. En route, she was sometimes regarded as a deity and asked to cure diseases, she met various outcasts of Japanese society, she endured typhoons and tremendous heat. Takamure tells her story in a very emotional manner and it is very readable."
  Self-Published
  Available on Amazon and Amazon Japan
  2010

• The Cicada's Summer Song. Lu BARNHAM'S accounting of her Summer 2008 walk of the pilgrimage. A very nice read — well written, interesting, and a good introduction to what it is like to walk the trail in summer (which i never recommend). I highly recommend reading it.
  Available on Amazon.
  2015

• The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Robert SIBLEY. A look at his walk and experiences while on the the henro trail, and a heart-felt tale of the people he encountered and befriended.
  University of Virginia Press, 2013

• Three Types of Pilgrimage in Japan. This is chapter 8 in a book entitled On Understanding Japanese Religion, by Joseph KITAGAWA. This is a very short chapter and adds nothing to what we read in the other books listed here, but Kitagawa is one of the leading experts in the area of Japanese Religion so it is worth reading.
  Princeton University Press, 1987

• Two On A Pilgrimage: The 88 Holy Places of Shikoku. Alfred BOHNER walked the henro trail in 1927 while teaching at a High School in Matsuyama. After returning to Germany, he wrote this book about his experiences and this German edition was published in 1931. Although translated into English in 1941, the English edition was never published... until now.
  Outlook Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 2011

• Walking In Circles. Todd Wassel. A memoir retelling of his 2005 nojuku walk of the henro trail, recounting his experiences and the many and varied people he encountered. I reviewed the book on my blog.
  Jizo Press, 2020

• A Pilgrimage in Shikoku. Kesaya NODA. A short accounting of Noda's pilgrimage around the island in 1982. A very interesting look at someone's struggle to slow down and live one moment at a time and to come to terms with recieving settai from people you don't even know and who you will never meet again.
  Essays on Japanology, 1978–1982
  Kyōto Kokusai Bunka Kyōkai
  1983

• About Kakurinji — the 20^th temple along the Shikoku pilgrimage: Its history and miracles tales based on two early 20^th Century documents. David MORETON. As the title states, this paper culls the history and stories of miracles attributed to Kakurinji from two Japanese documents.
  David Moreton's Website
  (pdf Document)

• About Tatsueji — the 19^th temple along the Shikoku pilgrimage: Its history and miracles tales based on two early 20^th Century documents. David MORETON. As the title states, this paper culls the history and stories of miracles attributed to Tatsueji from two Japanese documents.
  David Moreton's Website
  (pdf Document)

• Adjustment Within a Representative Japanese Pilgrimage System. An interesting paper written by Hiroshi TANAKA SHIMAZAKI of the University of Lethbridge, Canada. It discusses the origin and history of the pilgrimage as well as how it is changing to accomadate modern pilgrims.
  Online document

• An Examination of Travel Literature on the Shikoku Pilgrimage Route and Warnings Contained Within. A very interesting paper written by David MORETON for a Research Bulletin at the university where he teaches. The title alone describes its contents. (19 pages; 298 KB)
  Tokushima Bunri University Research Bulletin
  March 2005

• Development of the Kōbō Daishi Cult and Beliefs in Japan and Their Connection with the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Written by Sachiko Misawa KANAI, this is a good summary of the myths and beliefs that have appeared around the legend that Kōbō has become.
  Young East
  Vol.6, No. 2
  Spring 1980

• Experiencing the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Ashley WRIGHT wrote to me frequently while i was walking the pilgrimage. His messages were always encouraging and thought provoking. Included in one of his messages was this article that he wrote for the Asian Wall Street Journal after walking part of the henro trail in 1977 with Oliver Statler. He has given permission to reprint it here.
  Online document

• Frederick Starr; Collected Papers. STARR spent a large part of his time in Japan and was considered a Japanese expert while a professor at the University of Chicago. He traveled by bus, taxi, and foot around the pilgrimage in early 1921. His collected papers and diaries are in the special collections section of the University of Chicago Library and several field notebooks are devoted to his pilgrimage.
  Joseph Regenstein Library
  Department of Special Collections
  University of Chicago

• From Asceticism to the Package Tour - The Pilgrim's Progress in Japan. A short article by Ian READER laying out the history of the pilgrimage and how its focus has shifted from henro who walk the pilgrimage individually to group tours which travel around the island by bus.
  Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
  1987
  Vol. 17/2, pg. 133-148

• Geographic Expression of Buddhist Pilgrim Places on Shikoku Island, Japan. An interesting article by Hiroshi TANAKA focusing on the geographical aspects of the pilgrimage - the physical setting of the pilgrmiage temples, the settings that have changed over time, the buildings and other structures found at each setting, the traditional pilgrim behaviour at each temple, etc. This article has information not found in other sources.
  Canadian Geographer
  XXI, 2
  1977

• Geography and Environment. Barbara AMBROS. This is a paper in progress and there are obvious editing comments in it. It is a short overview of the history and current state of the Shikoku pilgrimage and compares it to other pilgrimages found in Japan..
  Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions
  February 2002

• Miniture Pilgrimage Systems and Community in Japan. A paper by Ryujiro KONDO of Wakayama University in Japan in which he discusses the miniture pilgrimages in Japan that are related to the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
  Online document

• Miniturization and Proliferation: A Study of Small-scale Pilgrimages in Japan. Ian READER. While not written directly on the topic of the pilgrimage on Shikoku, Reader does talk about the pilgrimage because his focus is the other small-scale pilgrimages around Japan that have spawned off of the main pilgrimage. Interesting reading.
  Studies in Central and East Asian Religions
  Vol. 1/1; pg. 50-66
  1988

• On Being a Pilgrim: Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. Tony MCNICOL. A very short 3 page general article about Tony's walk around the henro trail in early 2001.
  Look Japan
  Vol. 47, No. 549
  December 2001

• Osettai No Kokoro. Ryan ARMSTRONG. A series of seven articles in the local Kagawa Journal, a journal for expats living in Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku. In the series, Ryan recounts his 1997 trip around the henro trail.
  Kagawa Journal
  October/November 2001, #53
  through
  June/July 2001, #57

• Pilgrim Places: A Study of the Eighty-Eight Sacred Precints of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, Japan. This is Hiroshi TANAKA's 1975 Ph.D. dissertation from Simon Fraser University. He approaches the pilgrimage from the viewpoint of a geologist and, in addition to the history and lore of the pilgrimage, looks at the physical locations of the temples, the physical location of various buildings and other structures in the temple compounds, and the relationships that can be formed between all of these. Very interesting reading. I got a copy from the National Library of Canada through my local public library and then got email permission from Tanaka-san to make a copy.
  Simon Fraser University
  1975

• Pilgrimage in Japan. This is a special issue of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies and was edited by Ian READER and Paul SWANSON. Published by the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, this issue's articles are online in pdf format. In particular, the issue is the Special Issue: Fall 1997, 24/3-4, and the articles of interest are:
  
  • Editor's Introduction: Pilgrimage in the Japanese Religious Tradition, Ian READER & Paul SWANSON, pg 225-268.
  • Pilgrimage and Peregrination: Contextualizing the Saikoku Junrei and the Shikoku Henro, HOSHINO Eiki, pg 271-299.
  • Shikoku's Local Authorities and Henro during the Golden Age of the Pilgrimage, Nathalie KOUAMÉ, pg 413-425.
  Online document

• Reading Writing and Cooking: Kūkai's Interpretive Strategies. Thomas Blenman HARE. (Haven't read it in detail yet; only skimmed it.) At first glance it looks like a study of the problems faced when people make translations of works in foreign languages. Focuses on Kūkai's translations of various Sanscrit documents, especially his Kongō Hannyaharamitsu Kyō Kaidai, a brief commentary on the Diamond Sutra.
  Journal Of Asian Studies
  49(2); pp. 253–273
  May 1990

• Reflections on the Shikoku Pilgrimage: Theoretical and Historical Considerations. Richard PAYNE. Richard walked and rode around the pilgrimage in summer 1993. This is a study of the Shikoku Pilgrimage in particular and religious pilgrimage in general that he delivered as a paper at a conference in 1994.
  Kōyasan University
  Mikkyo Culture Research Bulletin
  No. 12
  February 1999

• Sacred Space and the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Richard BONANG. (Haven't read it yet.)
  Memoirs of Kyoto Tachibana Women's University
  No. 23
  1996

• Sendatsu and the Development of Contemporary Japanese Pilgrimage. Ian READER. A slight change of topic, this paper focuses on the contemporary roles, responsibilities, and activities of sendatsu - the pilgrimage guides and leaders of pilgrimage groups. As is usual for Reader, he focuses his concentration on the sendatsu of the pilgrimage on Shikoku.
  Nissan Occasional Paper Series
  No. 17
  1993

• Seven Weeks on the Henro Michi: Steps Along the Shikoku Island 88 Temple Pilgrimage. Marc PEARL walked the pilgrimage in 1989 and this is an accounting of that trip with lots of pictures, maps, and diagrams.
  Unpublished
  Personal copy received from the author.

• Shikoku Henro: A Study of Japanese and Western Pilgrims on the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Sacred Places Pilgrimage. Fiona MACGREGOR's 2002 Masters' degree thesis. A very interesting study and comparison of Japanese and non-Japanese pilgrims, their motivations, hopes and experiences. Fiona used data she collected herself at various Shikoku temples as well as data from a Waseda University survey.
  Online document

• The Development Of Shikoku Henro: The Formation and Dissemination of a Pilgrimage in Pre-Modern Japan: A Case Study of Shikoku Eiji OKAWA's 2009 MA thesis from his studies at The University of British Columbia. Very nice paper and a great addition to the English literature about the Shikoku henro. According to Okawa-san, "In the thesis, I deal mostly with the historical aspect of the pilgrimage. As you are aware, this is a topic that have been delved by many scholars already. So I examined them carefully, and re-assessed them by closely analyzing the available primary materials, such as the Michishirube, Reijoki, and Kudokuki."

• The Evolution of a Representative Japanese Pilgrimage as a Complex Self-Organizing System. Hiroshi TANAKA SHIMAZAKI. This is very similar to his other paper on this list, Adjustment Within a Representative Japanese Pilgrimage System. It describes the origin and organization of the pilgrimage, as well as discussing how the pilgrimage tries to balance the pilgrim's desire for religious merit and desire for convenience.
  Online document

• The Eight-Eight Temples of Shikoku Island. Ron EDWARDS. In 1986 Ron walked the pilgrimage with friends, but instead of getting the temple stamp in his Nōkyōchō at each of the temples he took the time to make a sketch of some aspect of the temple compound that he found interesting. As he says in the article, he "did not attempt to do a drawing of each temple building but instead tried to record the variety of things that impressed me at each place." This article is a series of one sketch and one paragraph for each of the 88 temples. Very interesting.
  Arts of Asia
  Vol. 18
  1988

• The Historical Significance of Pilgrimages in Japan, with Special Reference to the Shikoku Pilgrimage. HOSHINO Eiki.
  A short overview of the history of the Shikoku Pilgrimage with a brief mention of the history of pilgrimage in Japan in general.
  Young East
  Vol. 9, Issue 3, pp. 3-14
  Summer 1983

• The History of Charitable Giving Along the Shikoku Pilgrimage Route. David MORETON's 2001 Masters' degree thesis. An interesting look into the history and development of settai and pilgrim lodging on the Shikoku Pilgrimage route.
  Online document

• The Shikoku Pilgrimage: Essential Characteristics of a Japanese Bddhist Pilgrimage Complex. Hiroshi Tanaka SHIMAZAKI. A look at the pilgrimage and each temple's location from the geographer's point of view. As the abstract says, Shimazaki looks at "the association of the sites with various sacred beings; the temple landscapes in terms of their assemblages of physical features; the relationship between geographic setting and ritualistic behavior; and the spatial interactions among the 88 places."
  Sacred PLaces, Sacred Spaces: The Geography of Pilgrimages
  Robert Stoddard and Alan Morinis, Editors
  1997

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