Dainichi-ji (Temple 13) to Yakuō-ji (Temple 23)
Reckoning
- Distance
- 100 km
- Climb
- 2,500 m up, 2,500 m down
- Ground
- 10 to 600 m
- Time
- 22 to 30 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- mountain, forest, coastal, paved
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
Still in Tokushima, the Awakening phase. But now the temples spread out and the mountains deepen. By Temple 23, you have walked over 150 km and begin to understand what 1,200 km means. Yakuō-ji sits above the ocean. Ahead lies the longest gap on the entire pilgrimage — 75 km to Cape Muroto with no temple at all.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Finding your walking rhythm
- The first real blisters and learning to care for them
- Looking at the ocean and thinking about the distance ahead
- The Heart Sutra chant becoming familiar through repetition
Now that you know what this costs, do you still choose it?
The ground
Includes challenging mountain temples (T20-T21) and the descent to the southern coast. The path through cedar forests to Tairyū-ji (Temple 21) on its cable car mountain is memorable.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Dainichi-ji (Temple 13) 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 3 days in the app:
- Awa, day 3 Sudachi-an to Ido-ji (Temple 17)
- Awa, day 4 Ido-ji (Temple 17) to GuestHouse & Cafe Green House
- Awa, day 5 GuestHouse & Cafe Green House to Yakuō-ji (Temple 23)
Each opens that day in Pilgrim, or shows it with where to get the app.