02 Gokurakuji

Gokurakuji is the second temple on the Shikoku Henro, Japan's celebrated 88-temple pilgrimage circuit spanning roughly 1,200 kilometers across Shikoku island. Affiliated with the Kōyasan branch of Shingon Buddhism, the temple is traditionally dated to the early Heian period around 800 CE — reputedly linked to the monk Kūkai, also known as Kōbō-Daishi, who is said to have founded or visited each of the 88 stations. Its name translates as 'Temple of the Pure Land,' a reference to the Buddhist paradise. Today white-robed pilgrims known as henro pause here to stamp their pilgrim books and recite sutras, continuing an unbroken tradition of over a thousand years. The compact timber precinct, shaded by mature trees, rewards visitors with an atmosphere of calm largely unchanged by the modern city around it.