83 Ichinomiya-ji

Ichinomiya-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and serves as the 83rd station on the Shikoku Pilgrimage — Japan's most celebrated pilgrimage circuit, linking 88 temples associated with the monk Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi). The temple's origins are traced to around 700 CE, and its name derives from the nearby Tamura Shrine. Shingon, the esoteric school of Buddhism to which the temple belongs, centers on mandala visualization, mantra chanting, and ritual practice said to lead to enlightenment in a single lifetime. Pilgrims — known as Ohenro-san, dressed in white robes and carrying a wooden staff — arrive here as part of a roughly 1,200-kilometer walking circuit around Shikoku island. Even outside the pilgrimage context, the grounds offer a composed and quiet atmosphere characteristic of traditional Japanese temple architecture.