22 Byodo-ji

Byodo-ji is the 22nd temple on the Shikoku Henro, Japan's celebrated 1,200-kilometer pilgrimage circuit linking 88 temples associated with the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. The route was established in the tradition of the monk Kūkai — revered posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi — who founded Shingon Buddhism in the early 9th century. The temple sits on the southern slope of a small mountain range beside a stream in the city of Anan, giving it a quietly forested, secluded character. Pilgrims in white robes and broad sedge hats pass through as part of a journey that typically takes six to eight weeks on foot. The site is modest in scale, but its significance lies in the living pilgrimage tradition that surrounds it.