Japan's Sacred Roads & Pilgrimage Routes

About this book

Written and produced in Japan by Aki Wakamatsu. Japan is crossed by sacred roads — and this complete guide walks all 200 of the most important: the Shikoku henro of eighty-eight temples and its four dojo, the Kannon circuits of Saigoku, Bando and Chichibu, the Kumano Kodo network of imperial roads, stone-paved passes and river pilgrimages, the shugendo mountain roads of Dewa Sanzan, Omine and Tateyama, the great approaches of Koyasan, Zenkoji, Ise and Konpira, and the miniature circuits, seven-gods courses and road culture that brought pilgrimage into every Japanese town. Every entry follows one format — The Road / History & Faith / The Way Today / Walking & Visiting — describes faith as history and culture without preaching or promising, states plainly what survives and what can be visited, and never asserts current access: each entry ends with an official-check instruction naming its own site. Includes a How to Read a Pilgrimage Road introduction, practical chapters on conduct and seasons, five model itineraries and a glossary. Honest count: the 200 are pilgrimage routes, whole circuits, temple stretches forming one stage, and the towns, rites and objects that carry pilgrimage culture; seasonal, private and reservation-only stretches are labelled as such in their entries.