Pilgrimage on Shikoku Island

{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--MAPS OF THE PILGRIMAGE--

Simple map of the island with temple numbers for the main 88 temples.

A clickable version of the map at the top. Click in one of the squares to zoom into that area.

Non-Japanese Poster/Map
The Shikoku Tourism Promotion Association is making available a wall poster-size one page map of the henro trail. It is being published in English, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean. 30,000 copies will be published in English and 20,000 in each of the Asian languages. Released in July '07, it is available in Japan obviously, and is being distributed worldwide through JNTO (Japanese National Tourist Organization). To get a copy:

1) Send an email request to info@shikoku.gr.jp.

2) The subject of the email should be: Pilgrimage to the 88 Sacred Places Guide Map Request.

3) The body of the email should be: I would like a copy of the __(which language)___ Shikoku Pilgrimage Guide Map. Please send to: ___(name and address)___.

The Shikoku Tourism Promotion Association will pay the overseas postage to mail them out for a limited number of maps.

The poster is about 1m x 1m in size (3' x 3') with the map on one side. On the other side there is a lot of general information crammed into every square centimeter, with topics such as:

An Invitation to Shikoku
What is the Shikoku Pilgrimage
History of Buddhism
Kobo Daishi
Planning Ahead — different styles, where to start, medical treatment, lodging, backpacker, washrooms, meals, money planning, Japanese, and safety, traffic conditions
Practice and Preparation in Shikoku — pilgrim manners, things to look forward to, Pilgrim Glossary, what to take, what to wear, and proper etiquette at a temple
Cultural properties, Paintings, Sculptures, Art Work
Basic Information on Buddhist Statues

While it is a good general overview of the henro trail, it does not provide the detail that is provided in either the English or Japanese guidebooks that we all use. So, while this is nice to have to give you that large picture overview of what you are getting into, or what you just did, this should not replace getting the maps in the guidebooks.

Google Maps
John Cant put together a Google Map showing the location of the 88 main temples on the henro trail. The map is called, appropriately, The 88 Temples of Shikoku Henro.

Thanks for your efforts, John.

Other Maps

Here are a couple of early Showa Period maps of the pilgrimage. The text is in Japanese, but they should still be of interest as maps. These are located on the Waseda University web site, a link to which can be found on the Other Web Sites page.
- Map 1 (3-dimensional)
- Map 2 (1-dimensional)
David Moreton is a collector of old, historical maps of the henro trail and has images of them here. (Look near the bottom of the page.)