23 Yakuo-ji

Yakuō-ji is the 23rd temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, one of Japan's most celebrated Buddhist circuits linking 88 sacred sites across Shikoku island. The temple belongs to the Shingon school of Buddhism and sits in the coastal town of Minami-chō in Tokushima Prefecture. According to tradition it was founded by the monk Gyōki in the 8th century and later consecrated by Kōbō Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. The temple is particularly known for its ritual staircases — Yakuyoke steps — where pilgrims place a coin on each step as a ward against misfortune at auspicious ages. White-robed Ohenro pilgrims pass through daily, many of them walking the full 1,200-kilometre circuit.