19 April 2025 - Day 48 - Morning prayer ceremony, 3 Temples in a heatwave - 25 km

The morning in the Temple 75 Guesthouse started early. Morning prayer ceremony was at 6 and when I arrived 5 minutes before, almost everybody was already seated. So the Monks showed me the way, gave me a transcription of the parts we were supposed to sing with them and told me to take a chair and get seated. The big group of Japanese bus pilgrims had taken one half of the room so I sat next to another Japanese woman in the front row.

Being admitted into the inner part of a Buddhist Temple is a rare thing and being part of the morning prayer ceremony is really special. The songs that the Monks sing kind of put you into a trance. Unfortunately I didn’t understand what the main Monk (how do you call him?) said, neither do I know what he was doing while the others were chanting but it was very impressive.

Towards the end of the ceremony, one of the Monks, who speaks perfect English, explained to me and some other tourists that the instrument that another Monk was just showing was brought by Kukai himself from India more than 1200 years ago. It was manufactured in India and when it is played, it purifies the soul of the ones who listen to it.

At the end of the ceremony we were allowed at the back of the Temple, to the exact spot where Kukai was born and then we were into another tunnel experience which also led to the spot underneath where Kukai was born. The tunnel that was mysterious and a little frightening with Yohann yesterday, was different today. For once I knew what to expect, but above all I had a group of more than 30 people in front of me who were chanting and when the tiny light went on at « The Spot » I was still far away but could see the lights. Thanks again Yohann, a good thing we did this on our own yesterday!

After breakfast I packed my things and left this important Temple and marched on to Temples 76, 77 and 78. Of course none of them could impress me today. Konzoji was a nice small Temple about which I have nothing else to say.

Shortly after Temple 76 I finished my first official 1000 km of this Pilgrimage! My logs on my walking app put me very close to 1200 km as of tonight though. These include the walks inside the temples and walks to and from accommodation and a lot of wrong turns. But not the parts walked in the morning before starting or after having reached my inn.

Doryuji (Temple 77) was the second on my list today, and here also, nothing spectacular to say about it, except that the Monk who made the calligraphy and stamp gave me a « Yakult » as ossetai.

By now it was starting to get really hot and as I didn’t have such a long way to go I decided to take the longer path to Temple Goshoji (Nr 78). This was both a good and bad decision. The good one was that it kept me from walking the rest of the day along a boring busy stinking road. The bad part was that it added 2-3 kilometers to my stage today and with the heat I started regretting it. But the streets were nice and on my way I passed Marugame Castle that was standing on a hill I was too tired to climb. Still it looked nice from afar.

Just before arriving at Goshoji I met two Canadian ladies whom I had met a few times these last days. They reminded me to visit the cave underneath the Daishido, if only because it was nice and cool there. The Temple is built on several levels and beneath the Daishido is a cave that harbours 10’000 miniature Honzon figures made of bronze given by different parts of Japan.

After a late quick lunch break I walked on to Ryokan Miki for this night and my original (smelly and stained) hakui vest with the heart sutra printed on it was already waiting for me. So glad the delivery worked and happy to be reunited with you!! The Ryokan is again a very nice one with nice and kind hosts an an excellent cook = hostess.

That’s it for now. I want to thank you again for reading and helping me keep my motivation for the last week of walking.