07 Juraku-ji

Jūraku-ji is the seventh temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, an 88-temple circuit on Japan's Shikoku island and one of the country's most revered Buddhist routes. The temple belongs to the Shingon school, the esoteric Buddhist tradition founded in the early 9th century by the monk Kūkai, venerated posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi. Pilgrimage lore holds that Kūkai walks alongside every pilgrim on the circuit, which is why traditional Henro always travel as a pair in spirit. Set in the historical province of Awa in present-day Tokushima Prefecture, the temple grounds follow the classic layout of a Shingon site: main hall, Daishi hall, and incense smoke drifting through stone lanterns. The full circuit covers roughly 1,200 kilometres and is completed on foot, by bicycle, or by bus.