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Documentary The Final Pilgrimage
Interview Pilgrimage from a Foreigner’s Perspective
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Interview with Don Weiss
- Don Weiss
- Age: 77 (2026.4), Originally from: US, Currently living: Tokushima, Japan
I first visited Japan in 1980 and was immediately drawn to the Shikoku Pilgrimage after a brief mention in a guidebook, spending my final week on Shikoku. I returned ten years later to live in Tokushima, where I have spent most of the past 35 years. I walked the pilgrimage at the beginning of 1993 and again that spring, later writing Echoes of Incense. Since retiring in 2019, I walk it each spring and fall. This year will be my seventh time.
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Interview with Johannes Elze
- Johannes Elze
- Age: 42 (2026.4), Originally from: Germany, Currently living: Bali, Indonesia
My connection with the Shikoku Pilgrimage began in 2018 during a personal transition. A lifelong traveler and nomad for over 20 years, working as a web and graphic designer and photographer, I was searching for a path that united spiritual depth and physical experience. Walking the Henro route revealed a slower, more honest rhythm of life. Today I continue to walk and document the pilgrimage while developing practical guidance for future pilgrims.
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A Message from the Settai Station
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Interview with Kayo Ochi
- Kayo Ochi
- Settai Station Operator / Senior Guide Currently living: Kumakogen Town, Ehime Prefecture
A settai station is a "place of hospitality" voluntarily set up by local residents along the pilgrimage route. It offers tea, food, and resting space free of charge, warmly welcoming pilgrims who are tired from walking. This practice is rooted in a Shikoku-specific cultural tradition called “osettai,” in which people believe that by offering support to pilgrims, they themselves can accumulate merit together with Kobo Daishi (Odaishi-sama).
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Interview Interview with Inn Owners
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TOKUSIHMALocated within Temple No.6 Anrakuji
A 1200-year-old sacred spring and a night to experience teachings
—— A temple lodging that warmly welcomes “the beginning of the Pilgrimage”Anraku-ji Temple Lodging
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KAGAWANear Temple No. 85, Yakuirji, and Temple No. 86, Shidoji
Revive an architecture built in 1924 to reserve a 220-year history and legacy
Onyado Takayanagi
HowTo Interview with Yamazaki Sendatsu / How to Worship
Hideo Yamasaki
Born in Kochi City. He began the Shikoku pilgrimage in elementary school together with his parents. Later he worked as a tour conductor for a travel agency, accompanying pilgrimage tours, and gradually came to hope that one day he could guide pilgrims himself as a certified guide, “Sendatsu”. He moved to a pilgrimage-specialized travel company in Kagawa, continued escorting tours while independently training as a guide, and in 2010 received official certification as a Sendatsu from the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage Association. Since then, he has guided more than 20 times both on foot and by bus, continuously supporting pilgrims on their journeys. He currently also serves as the route planner and navigator for the association’s official program “Walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage with Kobo Daishi,” making him an expert of the Shikoku pilgrimage.
Message Message from the Shikoku 88 Temple Association President
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Message from Mr. Kazuhide Ebizuka, President of the Shikoku 88 Temple Association, Chief Priest of Chikurin-ji (Temple No.31), on the Launch of This Website
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