The Shikoku pilgrimage is a fascinating walk: eighty-eight Buddhist temples to visit, following a circuit of over one thousand, two hundred kilometres; forty-five days of walking; with more than one thousand, two hundred years of history behind it. They call it O-henro-san.
“While walking across the Japanese island of Shikoku over a two month period, I became quite convinced by one thing: I had found the one place where my spirit felt at home. From that moment, whenever I need peace and quiet, I mentally retrace my steps across the island. This is why I thought I'd invite readers of Shikoku A Walk in search of the Essential, to explore this magical place, in the hope that someone, somewhere might discover that it is their spiritual home, too”, Paolo Calvino writes.
Shikoku is an otherwordly and ambivalent land: in Shikoku A Walk in search of the Essential, the author explains why go there, how and when the pilgrimage was created and developed, who the pilgrims were and are, and how they feel during the walk and at the end of it.
Useful information are provided, together with a list of free and cheap lodgings.