Shikoku and the 88 Temple Route
A 1,200-kilometre pilgrimage around an island the circuits forgot, vine bridges over emerald gorges and empty coastal roads: Shikoku is the Japan of before, open to anyone who takes the wheel.
Suggested stay — 5 to 8 nights
The smallest of the four main islands lives to the rhythm of the henro, the circular pilgrimage of 88 temples founded in the footsteps of the monk Kukai: 1,200 km that white-clad pilgrims walk in six weeks — or drive in ten days, a version fully accepted and respected locally. No need to do it all: stringing together a dozen temples between Ryozenji (no. 1, near Tokushima) and the southern capes gives the measure of the ritual — candles, the calligraphy of the nokyocho book, old ladies offering walkers a mandarin (osettai, the sacred hospitality).
Between the temples, Shikoku unrolls its geographical marvels: the Iya Valley and its woven-vine bridges suspended over the gorges (Kazurabashi, rebuilt every three years, vertigo guaranteed), the Oboke gorges by boat, the Naruto whirlpools beneath the great bridge, and Cape Muroto battered by the Pacific. You join or leave the island via the Shimanami Kaido, a chain of suspension bridges leaping the Inland Sea from island to island — sublime at the wheel, mythical by bicycle.
Don't miss
- A selection of henro temples, including Ryozenji (no. 1) and Zentsuji (no. 75, Kukai's birthplace)
- The vine bridges of the Iya Valley and the Manneken-Pis statue on the cliff
- The Naruto whirlpools from the bridge or by boat (at tide times)
- The Shimanami Kaido, the bridge road over the Seto Inland Sea
Our tips on the ground
- The Naruto whirlpools run on a timetable: they peak for an hour around each tide — check the tide calendar before planning the visit; outside the window, there is nothing to see.
- In the Iya Valley, route 439 is a magnificent trap: single lane, blind mirrors and a real average of 30 km/h — allow double the stated time and take route 32 where it exists.
- Buy the nokyocho book at the first temple you visit (about ¥2,500): even for a handful of temples, the ink calligraphy makes it the finest souvenir of the trip.
Our flagship guide — €29
Guide available“Japan on Your Own”, the complete edition, is out
10 chapters: day-by-day itineraries, driving and transport, a costed budget and checklists — the same method as our Namibia guide.
The guide is currently written in French — an English edition is in the works.
Before you go
Readers' questions about Shikoku and the 88 Temple Route
Is doing the pilgrimage by car frowned upon?
Not at all: the Japanese themselves mostly do it by car or organised bus, and the temples welcome all henro without hierarchy. Custom only asks for respect of the gestures: wash your hands, bow at the gate, don't photograph the ceremonies. The stamped book counts for every mode of transport — only the merit, they say with a smile, is supposed to be earned on foot.
How many temples should you visit without doing the full circuit?
Five to ten well-chosen ones are enough to understand: Ryozenji for the start and its pilgrim-outfitting atmosphere, temples 71 to 77 around Zentsuji, which chain together in one dense day, and one isolated cape temple such as Hotsumisakiji above Muroto for the hermitage dimension. The mistake would be to make it a marathon: the henro is savoured, not ticked off.