03 Konsen-ji

Konsen-ji is the third temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, one of Japan's most revered Buddhist circuits comprising 88 temples spread across Shikoku island. The temple belongs to the Kōyasan branch of Shingon Buddhism, an esoteric school founded in the 9th century by the monk Kūkai, who was born on Shikoku and is considered the spiritual guide accompanying every pilgrim on the route. Pilgrims — known as henro — traditionally walk the roughly 1,200-kilometer circuit dressed in white robes and carrying a wooden staff said to embody Kūkai himself. At the temple compound in Itano, Tokushima Prefecture, visitors follow the customary ritual sequence of hand-washing, incense offering, and sutra recitation, a practice that has remained essentially unchanged for centuries.