23 April 2025 - Day 52 - The last two Temples, certificates, a surprise reunion, it’s not the end - 27 km

It was another excellent breakfast and one of the other guests pointed out to me that my Prime Minister is in Japan now. I think this is funny because the man would probably not have noticed the news if he hadn’t just met somebody from Luxembourg. So I continue to do my work as an ambassador for my country…

I left shortly after 7 after a heartfelt goodbye from my hosts. The 7 kilometers to Nagaoji were mostly along a busy road and, like every morning around this time I saw many kids from all ages on their way to school, most of them on their bikes but some of them on foot. Even if it’s challenging at times to walk between so many bikes, I like the feeling and I am always surprised that most of the kids bow and greet me.

Temple 87 (Nagaoji) was a cute little Temple but my mind was somehow already ahead of me. Also the risk of rain made me nervous. Here I met Nakadai and we were both wondering about the best route to Okuboji, Temple 88. Considering the rain last night I prefer to walk on the road instead of the slippery mountain trails. My shoes have no more grip and I don’t want to risk a serious fall so close to the end. Still I wanted to ask the staff at the Henro Museum for their advice. Nakadai was of the same opinion and by the time I had dried my calligraphy he had already left.

The Henro Museum is situated 7 or 10 km from Okuboji, depending on which route you take, and they prepare a Henro Ambassador certificate for the walking pilgrim. But they also have interesting information and material about the 1200 year history of this pilgrimage. I met Nakadai here again who took the time to walk me through the exposition and give me some information about it.

When we asked the lady at the counter about the best route for today she also suggested the long route via the normal roads. Nakadai left before me, but somewhere on the road I caught up with him and so we walked together. We had interesting talks and after a short lunchbreak we met Martin who came back from Okuboji with his bike. We stopped to talk briefly and he made some more pictures.

We were happy to finally arrive at Temple Hachi-juu-hachi (Temple 88) which is situated in the mountain but about a hundred meters below the top. It’s yet another beautiful mountain temple, and with the Fujiseason (wisteria) just starting, the smell of the white and violet wisteria was heavenly.

But I was in for a big surprise when Marjorie walked up the stairs entering the Temple. We hugged and congratulated each other for reaching Temple 88. It’s even more of an achievement for Marjorie as she also walked the 20 bekkaku!! We then collected our stamps and calligraphy and asked for our certificates which we also received. Thanks to Nakadai for translating our names into hiragana.

There is also the possibility to visit the interior of the Daishido, which we did with Nakadai’s help. He gave us a lot of information about the statues for each of the 88 Temples that are on display here.

We then walked on to our inn for tonight which was just a few meters away, Marjorie took her bus to her accommodation which is a lot further away. Dinner was excellent and we sat there with Grey whom I had met before, and celebrated his birthday and the success of the pilgrimage for everybody.

However, even if I have visited the 88 Temples, this is not yet the end of the pilgrimage, as the Henro usually goes back to the Temple he started at to close the circle. This means I have two more walking days ahead of me during which I can, if I feel like it, revisit Temples 10 to 1 in reverse order. This sounds like a good plan but it will depend on the time I have left and the weather. So I will keep you informed.

Thanks for reading and hope to « see » you tomorrow. Oyasuminasai.