The Shikoku Pilgrimage
The Shikoku pilgrimage route dates back to the 9th century when the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Kōbō Daishi, established the route of the 88 temples that are spread across the four provinces of the island of Shikoku in western Japan. Ever since then, pilgrims all around Japan have traveled to Shikoku to follow his steps and complete the 1400 kilometers pilgrimage. Faith in Kōbō Daishi is central to the route. Pilgrims believe that the spirit of Kōbō Daishi travels along with them and his blessings can be received through the pilgrims themselves.
Although at first only priests and people in ascetic training would embark in the pilgrimage, it eventually became a popular route to complete among common people as well as its popularity increased and travel became more common in Japan especially in the late Edo period.
The 1918 Shikoku Pilgrimage of Takamure Itsue
In 1918, the 7th year of the Taisho Era, Takamure Itsue, a 24 year old woman from Kyushu embarked on a journey to complete the Shikoku pilgrimage around the 88 temples. She was motivated by a promise made by her mom that she would send her daughter on a pilgrimage if she had a daughter who grew up healthy as well as the desire to travel and get away from her personal troubles.
As an avid reader and write of literature, Itsue documented her journey from beginning to end through a series of articles that were published in the newspapers at the time. In total she wrote 105 articles which were later compiled and released as a book titled “Musume Junreiki.” Itsue describes in her writings the hardships of travelling across the route by foot at that time. The weather was a constant element that affected her travels as she often was affected by the rain. She was also often asked for her blessings for all kinds of afflictions from the locals. She describes her encounters with many pilgrims from different places around Japan, most of them over forty, most of them completing the pilgrimage in order to get help from Kōbō Daishi with their troubles and illnesses.
Like most pilgrims at that time, Takamure relied on support from the locals known as “settai” to complete her travel. When possible, Takamure would spend the nights at Inns but she often had to sleep outdoors due to the lack of money and failure in receiving free lodging. Begging was seen by pilgrims not only as necessary to survive and to complete the pilgrimage, but also as an ascetic practice and a part of Kōbō Daishi’s teachings. Yet, begging was actually illegal at the time and if caught, pilgrims would be kicked out from the province. A pilgrim told Itsue that the easiest provinces for begging were Iyo and Sanuki. She herself was faced by police when nearing completion of her journey.
It was not uncommon for pilgrims to die when trying to complete the route. Pilgrims would wear all white when completing the route, a color associated with death in Japan. Takamure often heard news of pilgrims dying as well as the graves of many along the route. At that time, the influenza pandemic was affecting the whole world, including Japan. It took Itsue over three months to complete the whole route to which she then returned home. Itsue herself contracted the flu shortly after completing her pilgrimage but luckily, she recovered from it and continued her way home.
Shikoku Henro Sugoroku
The Shikoku Pilgrimage Sugoroku game aims to replicate the hardships that a pilgrim like Itsue encountered while walking by foot through the 88 temples in early years of the Taisho era.
The goal of the game is to complete one lap around the Shikoku Island across the four provinces of Awa, Tosa, Iyo, and Sanuki. The goal of each pilgrim is to complete the Shikoku Pilgrimage route in order to visit all the 88 temples while facing the dangers of travelling by foot. Whichever pilgrim that completes the pilgrimage first would result in winning the game.
Movement
Players begin their journey in Temple number one and roll the dice to decide how many temples they can visit in their turn.
Weather and Events
Each turn the pilgrims will be affected by the weather and an event. These are decided randomly each turn and have different effects.
Begging and Lodging
Pilgrims start their journey with 40 Sen in their pockets. Each turn the pilgrims will do some begging and randomly receive some Sen or none in return. Begging while in Iyo or Sanuki province results in one additional Sen.
Pilgrims need to choose between spending 10 Sen to spend the night at an Inn at a nearby town (temples marked in yellow indicate when pilgrims can stay at an inn) or to spend the night camping outside at no cost. The movements of the pilgrims will be affected whether they spend the night at an Inn or Outdoors.
Additional Ways of Winning and Losing the game
A pilgrim can immediately lose the game if affected by a “Death” event 4 times in total.
A pilgrim can immediately win the game if affected by a “Encounter with Kobo Daishi” event 8 times in total.
References
- Sibley, R. C., & Project Muse University Press eBooks. (2013). The way of the 88 temples: Journeys on the shikoku pilgrimage. University of Virginia Press.
- Takamure, I. (2010). The 1918 shikoku pilgrimage of takamure itsue: An english translation of musume junreiki (1st ed.). Bowen Pub.
- Kang, S. (2019). Contested Pilgrimage: Shikoku Henro and Dark Tourism. The Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus Vol.17 Issue 16
- Nobuhiro, K. (1988). Shikoku pilgrimage. Japan Quarterly, 35(2), 171.
- The Japan Heritage Promotion Project (n.d.) A Basic Guide to the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Retrieved from: https://partners-pamph.jnto.go.jp/simg/pamph/1014.pdf
- Shultz, J. A. (2009). Characters on a page, characters on a pilgrimage: Contemporary memoirs of the shikoku henro
- (1917) Shikoku Pilgrimage Road, Taisho 6, New Japan Old Maps Society. Retrieved from: https://blog.goo.ne.jp/kochizu/e/39791da3d749884f3558eb0ac4098269