An Open Pilgrimage for All Beliefs
The Shikoku Pilgrimage is not a journey reserved for Buddhists alone. Christians, the non-religious, and the spiritually minded—all can walk it without abandoning their own beliefs. It is an open pilgrimage, where diversity itself becomes part of the sacred landscape.
Scholars of pilgrimage note that motives often overlap—religious, spiritual, and secular—without fitting neatly into a single category. In Shikoku, people walk for many reasons: prayer, healing, transition, reconnection with nature, or self-reflection. These layers of purpose blend together, forming a deeply human rhythm of walking.
From Santiago to Shikoku
In recent years, more pilgrims who have completed the Camino de Santiago in Spain have turned their steps toward Shikoku. Both routes share a circular structure, the act of collecting seals, and the rhythm of encounters and farewells along the way.
On the Shikoku side, English guidance, multilingual maps, and updated facilities make planning much easier for first-time visitors. For many who have walked the Camino, Shikoku feels like a natural next step—a continuation of the same spiritual conversation, spoken in another landscape.
Reasons Beyond Religion
People walk Shikoku for many personal reasons—recovering from loss, processing life transitions, reconnecting with nature, restoring health, or simply taking time apart from work and home. Though rooted in Buddhist ritual, the act of walking itself becomes a framework for reweaving one’s life.
What matters is not confession of faith, but quiet respect. Many walkers describe a feeling that words settle gently after the journey ends—that understanding comes through silence, not doctrine.
Marks and Proofs: Credential and Nōkyōchō
On the Camino, pilgrims collect stamps in a credencial. In Shikoku, pilgrims receive calligraphy and red seals in a nōkyōchō, a book of temple inscriptions. Each mark is not a souvenir but a record of devotion—a sign that prayers were offered at both the main hall and the Daishi hall.
Even for those from other faiths, gestures such as a bow, clasped hands, or silent prayer are accepted with respect. Pilgrims are simply asked to follow basic manners: visit during temple hours, wait your turn, and handle the inked pages carefully until dry.
Lodging Culture: Albergue and Henro-yado
While the Camino is lined with albergues, in Shikoku most pilgrims stay at guesthouses, inns, or temple lodgings. Meals, reservations, curfews, and bathing customs reflect Japanese cultural rhythms.
Recently, simple and foreigner-friendly lodgings have appeared—small inns and networked guesthouses that can be booked in English. Because most are family-run, good communication and courtesy matter: notify your host of arrival times, keep quiet at night, and respect shared spaces for laundry or drying clothes.
These small acts of consideration sustain trust between pilgrims and hosts.
Waymarks and Language
Shikoku’s waymarks come in many forms: numbered temple signs, arrows, stone pillars, and stickers on the road. Unlike the Camino’s uniform yellow arrows, Shikoku’s markings vary by region—but that variety gives texture and local flavor to the journey.
Using both printed and digital maps greatly reduces the risk of getting lost. Multilingual PDF guides and tourism booklets are increasingly available. This diversity of signs also reveals each community’s creativity and the ongoing culture of donation that keeps the paths alive.
Respectful Participation
Though chanting sutras is part of Buddhist custom, it is not required. Prayer in Shikoku is deeply personal: a bow, folded hands, or silent reflection all convey respect.
At temple offices, basic etiquette—opening your book to the right page, confirming photo permissions, waiting in line—shows mindfulness. If uncertain, simply follow posted signs or staff instructions. The key is to show consideration before words—to let awareness speak first.
Shikoku as a Crossroads
Shikoku is a land where Buddhism, Shinto, and folk beliefs overlap. Even after the Meiji-era separation of gods and Buddhas, traces of that fusion remain—in place names, annual festivals, and small shrines within temple grounds.
Today, with pilgrims arriving from many nations and languages, Shikoku has become an even richer crossroads of religion and culture. Here, one can hold one’s own faith while respecting others’ ways of prayer; such encounters often become the heart of the walking experience.
Depth Through Openness
The growing number of international pilgrims does not signal a loss of faith—it affirms the universality of walking itself. Shikoku responds gracefully to modern motives that intertwine the religious, spiritual, and secular.
To keep your faith, to honor the customs of others, and to walk within the story of the road—this attitude defines the new pilgrim of our time. Take your nōkyōchō and your map, and begin for your own reason. The path will meet you halfway.
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