3 March 2025 - Day 1 - Temples 1-6 in the rain - 20,75 km

Today I finally got to visit the first temples. After an excellent breakfast and some riceballs for the road from my host I set off in the pouring rain to Ryozenji just a few hundred meters away.

This beautiful temple deserved to be visited much longer in a dryer atmosphere but the heavy rain made me leave in a hurry. At the exit I met David from the US who was waiting for his daughters to join him and he shared a small part of the way with me.

Barely 1 km further I visited Gokurakuji, still in the rain, therefore unfortunately still in a bit of a hurry. On my way to Konsenji I caught up with another David, from Italy, who decided almost on the spot to do a part of the pilgrimage these days.

The route to Dainichiji passed through a small bamboo forest, a quite impressive sight for European eyes. The rain had stopped and I met up with Italian David again who said he would wait for me at Temple 5 do walk together till just before Temple 6 where he had to stop and take a bus back to Tokushima.

And there I found him, at Jizoji, not a soul on the grounds but him, and we walked the 5 km to his bus stop. Just a few hundred meters further on I visited Anrakuji before returning to my Minshuku for a rest, shower, excellent Udon fish soup and generous help for arranging further accommodation.

If you’re wondering what happens at the temples, I haven’t gotten the gist of it yet. It’s not just about getting a stamp in your book or on your scroll. There’s a whole ritual that should be done, like bowing, washing your hands, offering candles, incense, a donation, singing the heart sutra and/or praying.

Walking in the rain into the stamp office and taking the scroll and stamp book out of like 5 layers of plastic and after waiting for the ink to dry putting it all back is a pleasure I will be having 4 more times tomorrow.

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