Konzō-ji (Temple 76) to Ōkubo-ji (Temple 88)
Completion
- Distance
- 110 km
- Climb
- 2,000 m up, 1,600 m down
- Ground
- 10 to 600 m
- Time
- 25 to 33 hours
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Underfoot
- paved, mountain, forest, urban
Where this day sits on the Shikoku 88
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 10 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
The final temples accelerate toward conclusion. Ōkubo-ji — the Great Hollow Temple — sits in a mountain valley. Many pilgrims leave their walking staff here, planted in the ground like a grave marker for the person they were when they started. Then comes the traditional journey to Temple 1 to close the circle, and often to Mount Kōya to pay respects at Kūkai's mausoleum where he is believed to be in eternal meditation.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Tears at Temple 88
- Leaving the staff — letting go of the pilgrim identity
- The strange emptiness of being 'done'
- Returning to Temple 1 to close the circle
The circle closes. What opened in you that you want to keep open?
The ground
The final thirteen temples through Takamatsu and eastern Kagawa. Yashima (Temple 84) offers views of the Seto Inland Sea. The last mountain climb to Temple 88 (Ōkubo-ji) is a fitting final challenge.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Konzō-ji (Temple 76) depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
Pilgrim walks the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage in parts, one day at a time in Honor mode, with each day's own morning words and its own question at the end. Its days are cut more finely than the stages here, so this stretch falls across 4 days in the app:
- Sanuki, day 3 Konzo-ji (Temple 76) to Sakaide
- Sanuki, day 4 Sakaide to Sanuki
- Sanuki, day 5 Sanuki to Okubo-ji (Temple 88)
- Sanuki, day 6 Okubo-ji (Temple 88) to Ryōzen-ji (Temple 1)
Each opens that day in Pilgrim, or shows it with where to get the app.