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Introduction
Travel is an act for human beings to visit new places and experience different cultures and histories. Through travel, we can actually feel historical events and people’s lives by visiting historical places and cultural heritage sites, thus gaining a deeper understanding of history and broadening our own horizons. In the previous article, we will discuss the Mongolia travelogue. In this article, I will discuss Kukai, the Shikoku pilgrimage, and the pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain.
Kukai
Kukai described in “On the Road to Koyasan (Yukimura Sanada and Kukai)“, also known as Kobo Daishi, was a monk in the early Heian period (around 800 AD) and the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Kukai was born in Sanuki province (present-day Kagawa Prefecture), where he is also mentioned in “Setouchi International Art Festival“, to a father, Saeki Tadakuni, a county governor, and a mother, Tamayori Gozen, whose childhood name was Saeki no Mao.
In his youth, he studied in Kyoto to succeed his father as a government official, but from the age of 19 to 30, according to one theory, he traveled in the mountains of Awa Province (Tokushima Prefecture) as described in “Kaido yuku: Travels and History of Awa and Awaji Island” Tosa Province (Kochi Prefecture) as described in “Yusuhara Kaido – Kochi and Shikoku Mountains Journey” and Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture) as described in “Kaido yuku: South Iyo and West Tosa Roads. Kukai’s book “Deaf and blind,” which is a comparative theory of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, also mentions that he practiced asceticism in his youth in places such as Ishizuchi Mountain in Iyo Province.
It is assumed that Shikoku was chosen because it was his birthplace, and also because the mountainous areas of Shikoku at that time were extremely remote and suitable for ascetic practices.
The Shingon sect founded by Kukai, as described in “The Internet and Vairochanabutsu – The Kegon Sutra and Esoteric Buddhism” and “Kukai, Shingon, Seals, Mandalas, and Buddhist Statues,” has Dainichi Nyorai as its principal deity, and Sokushin Shobutsu, or the attainment of Buddhahood through the practice of sokushin, is considered an important teaching. The practice necessary to achieve this is called “samitsu,” or the “three secrets” to awaken the Buddha’s innate Buddha spirit, and it is taught that it is essential to prepare one’s “body (shin)” (physical actions), “mouth (ku)” (words), and “will (i)” (mind).
One of these practices is called “Kokuu-zo Gumon-mochiho,” which is an esoteric Buddhist secret to enhance memory by chanting the mantra of Kokuu Bodhisattva “Noubo akyasha kyarabaya oon arikyamari bori sowaka” 10,000 times a day for 100 days, one million times in the mountains. Kukai is said to have performed this ascetic practice in the mountains of Shikoku.
At the age of 31, Kukai then traveled to Tang as an envoy to China to study esoteric Buddhism while learning the Sanskrit (Sanskrit) language necessary for understanding esoteric Buddhism, and met a Tang national teacher named Keika, a monk who had formally inherited Shingon esoteric Buddhism, to receive the transmission of esoteric Buddhism.
After spending two years in Tang China, he returned to Japan in 806 and began to propagate esoteric Shingon Buddhism. In 816, he founded Koyasan as a Zen monastery, and in 835, he entered the priesthood.
After Kukai’s death, many of his disciples who admired him began to follow in his footsteps in Shikoku, which led to the Shikoku Pilgrimage (pilgrimage to 88 temples in Shikoku).
Shikoku Pilgrimage (88 Pilgrimage to 88 Pilgrimage Sites in Shikoku)
The Shikoku Pilgrimage is a 1,400-km pilgrimage that circles the four prefectures of Shikoku and retraces the footsteps of Kukai’s ascetic practices.
One of the most famous legends concerning the Shikoku pilgrimage is the legend of Emonsaburo. Emonsaburo was a member of the Kono family that ruled Iyo Province during the Heian period (794-1185) and was a powerful and influential farmer. It is said that he was greedy and unpopular among the people.
One day, a shabbily dressed monk appeared at Saburo’s doorstep and attempted to beg for alms. Saburo ordered his family to turn him away. The next day, and the day after that, the monk appeared again and again. On the eighth day, Saburo became angry and knocked off the bowl the monk was offering with a bamboo broom (some say he grabbed it and knocked it to the ground), the bowl broke into eight pieces and the monk disappeared. The monk was actually Kobo Daishi (Kukai).
Saburo was overcome with grief when the monk appeared at his bedside, and Saburo finally realized that the monk was actually Kobo Daishi (Kukai) and was seized with a feeling of repentance. Saburo sold his fields, gave his share to his family, left his wife, and set out on a pilgrimage to Shikoku in pursuit of the monk, making 20 pilgrimages but failing to meet him. As Saburo was dying, the Master appeared before him, weeping and apologizing for his past wrongdoings, and when the Master asked Saburo if he had any hope, Saburo said, “In my next life, I want to help others,” and passed away.
The following year, the first son, Okitoshi Kono, a lord of Iyo Province, was born, but the child held his left hand tightly and would not open it. The child would not open his left hand, but a monk at Anyoji Temple prayed for him, and the hand finally opened, revealing a stone with the name “Emonsaburo” written on it. The stone was delivered to Anyoji Temple, which later changed its name to Ishite-ji Temple. The stone is called tama-no-ishi and is a temple treasure.
This “legend of Emonsaburo” is said to be the beginning of the Shikoku pilgrimage. Shinnen was a monk who did not have a specific temple but traveled around Shikoku spreading the teachings of Buddhism. With this book as guidance, not only practicing monks but also ordinary people became able to make the pilgrimage, and the Shikoku pilgrimage as we know it today became possible. Shinnen was involved in various activities related to the Shikoku pilgrimage, and is said to have placed as many as 200 guideposts along the pilgrimage route. Of these, 28 remain today.
The Shikoku pilgrimage includes the Mikurodo Cave, a training site on Cape Muroto where Kukai is said to have attained enlightenment. It is said that one day, just before dawn, Kukai saw a bright star (Venus, said to be an incarnation of Bodhisattva Emptiness) shining in the eastern sky, which entered his body, and he attained enlightenment, becoming one with Emptiness (the universe).
Some of the 88 temples are not only temples of the Shingon sect, but also of the Tendai and Rinzai sects. These are due to reasons such as the original Shingon sect temples having fallen into disuse and being rebuilt, or temples that are as old as the Shingon sect.
Pilgrimage to Santiago
Pilgrimage is a religious act of visiting sacred places, temples, and shrines, and is practiced worldwide by various religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.
In Japan, pilgrimage to a single place is called “mairi” or “mairige,” while pilgrimage to multiple places is called “kairi,” or “pilgrimage. In Japan, there is a big difference, both in form and in consciousness, between pilgrimages to Ise, Kompira-mairi, Kumano-pilgrimage as described in “Kumano/Koza-kaido” and pilgrimages to the western part of Japan.
In pilgrimages to multiple sacred sites, the sacred sites are numbered and called “fudosho. This is because pilgrims paid wooden tickets with their names written on them as proof of their visit, and this practice continues to this day, although it has been replaced by paper tickets.
In contrast, the pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain, described in “Kaido yuku Nanban-no Michi (2): Spain and Portugal” is for the cathedral of Santiago de Convostela, and is similar to the Japanese “mairi” or “mairi de”.
The journey is also more sporty, with nature trails lined with eucalyptus trees.
What corresponds to a stone marker in Japan is here a “scallop” marker. In German, scallops are called Jakob’s shell (Jakobsmuschel) or pilgrim’s shell (Pilgermuschel), and scallops are associated with St. James and the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
This pilgrimage was also linked to the Reconquista (the counterattack against the conquest of Spain by the Muslim dynasties) as described in “On the Road to the Southern Barbarians (2) Spain and Portugal” and Santiago de Convostela at the “western edge” of the Christian world was the “end of the earth,” and traveling to that place meant salvation after suffering as described in “Reading the Confession of Augustine,” which is the core of Christianity.
Shikoku Pilgrimage and Pilgrimage to Santiago
While both pilgrimages are to sacred religious sites, temples, and shrines, the difference is that the Shikoku pilgrimage is a circular pilgrimage, with a closed circle that allows the pilgrims to freely choose their start and end points, while the Santiago pilgrimage is a linear pilgrimage with a clear start and end point.
Another difference is that in the Santiago pilgrimage, the pilgrimage sites were maintained by royal authorities and associations, whereas the Shikoku pilgrimage is based on the common people’s activities called “hospitality” by the people of Shikoku. This “entertainment” was done in the belief that Kobo Daishi would save the pilgrims by providing them with food, lodging, and other services, and it is this system that has enabled the Shikoku pilgrimage system to continue for a long and sustainable period.
Today, the Shikoku pilgrimage and the pilgrimage to Santiago have a cooperative agreement that allows people to come and go as they please.
In the next article, we will discuss Iki and Tsushima, which are located between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and have served as a route for iron transportation since ancient times, and which, with their mysterious aspects in mythology and folklore, have been the stage for historical exchange of people and culture between Japan and Korea.
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