Hotsumisaki-ji (Temple 24) to Kiyotaki-ji (Temple 35)
Discipline
- Distance
- 200 km
- Climb
- 3,000 m up, 3,000 m down
- Ground
- 5 to 450 m
- Time
- 45 to 60 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- coastal, paved, mountain, forest
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
Kochi is the Shugyō no Dōjō — the Place of Discipline. The province is vast, sparsely populated, and the distances between temples are the longest on the route. The 75 km walk to Cape Muroto is where many pilgrims quit. There is nothing to do but walk. The Pacific stretches to the horizon. The discipline is not in the difficulty — it is in the monotony, the repetition, the willingness to keep going when nothing new is happening.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Loneliness in rural Kochi
- The mental challenge of long road-walking sections
- Deep gratitude for osettai encounters
- A quiet shift from 'doing' a pilgrimage to 'being' a pilgrim
What discipline sustains you when the path offers no reward?
The ground
Kochi — the longest and most remote section. Begins with the 75 km walk from Temple 23 to Cape Muroto (Temple 24). Long gaps between temples. The Pacific coast dominates.
- 75 km gap between Temple 23 and Temple 24 (Cape Muroto). Plan accommodation carefully.
- Limited services in rural Kochi. Carry cash and food supplies.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Hotsumisaki-ji (Temple 24) 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 5 days in the app:
- Tosa, day 3 Tokumasu Minshuku to Kongocho-ji (Temple 26)
- Tosa, day 4 Kongocho-ji (Temple 26) to Konomine-ji (Temple 27)
- Tosa, day 5 Konomine-ji (Temple 27) to 黒潮温泉ホテル
- Tosa, day 6 黒潮温泉ホテル to Chikurin-ji (Temple 31)
- Tosa, day 7 Chikurin-ji (Temple 31) to Tosa
Each opens that day in Pilgrim, or shows it with where to get the app.