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‘O henro michi’ – pilgrim trail

Overall, the trail is very well waymarked, but this is not to say that you don’t need a guidebook and map. Currently the only English guidebook is the Shikoku Japan 88 Route Guide by Buyodo Co. Ltd which has detailed road maps showing the locations of accommodation and supermarkets/restaurants, I couldn’t imagine doing it without this valuable resource. In addition to the guidebook and waymarks, I also carried a GPS (Garmin 62s) with Japanese maps.

If you don’t speak Japanese, it won’t be impossible to do the pilgrimage and I hope these translations will help, but the more Japanese language you know, the more you’ll be able to engage with the local people and get fulfilment from being able to read the signs! I lived in Japan for 7 years and studied the language for even longer, but even having this, I still found the dialect of some of the people I spoke to very hard to understand! In my experience most of the Japanese people I met either didn’t speak any English, or it was very limited, and apart from the occasional sign in English, most were in Japanese.

If you can learn 2 of the 3 alphabets before going (hiragana and katakana), this will help you to interpret most of the signs and even be able to order food in restaurants. And if there’s no time to learn these alphabets, then just learn to recognise the warning signs and characters on this page!

I have divided the signs into three parts – Directions, Warnings and Words of Encouragement.

1. Directions

   

   ‘Aruki henro michi’ – walking pilgrim trail (kanji and hiragana)

   

   ‘Ichi ban ressho’ – Temple 1 is 0.6km ahead (kanji)

   
   

   

   Henro!

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana and kanji)

   
   

   

   Henro!

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana and kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Jyu ichi cho’ – 11 cho to the destination (ancient measurement, 1 cho is 109m), (kanji)

   

   Both point to temple 20, ‘Kakurinji’ – the right sign has the temple name written backwards (perhaps the traditional way?)

   
   

   

   In the middle: 休憩所 トイレ あります = ‘kyukeisho toire arimasu’ = rest stop, there is a toilet (kanji, katakana and hiragana)

   

   ‘Kochi’ – this way (hiragana)

   
   

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana and kanji)

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana and kanji)

   
   

   

   Henro!

   

   ’24 ban 38k’ – 38km to temple 24 (Kanji)

   
   

   

   ’29 ban’ – Temple 29 to the right (kanji)

   

   ‘Sanjyugo ban ressho kiyotakiji’ – Number 35 Temple Kiyotaki (kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Kiyotakiji’ – Number 35 Temple Kiyotaki (kanji)

   

   ‘Tanemaji’ – Temple 34 Tanema is 2.7km to the left for walking pilgrims (kanji)

   
   

   

   Henro!

   

   ’36 ban ressho shoryuji’ – Temple 36 Shoryuji to the left (kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana and kanji)

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (kanji)

   
   

   

   Inside a tunnel

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana and kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail, temple 39 to the right (hiragana and kanji)

   

   Tunnel information

   
   

   

   Temple 40 to the left, temple 41 to the right

   

   
   

   

   Go right

   

   Go left

   
   

   

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Henro michi’ – pilgrim trail (hiragana)

   

   
   

   

   At temple 71 there are approx 530 steps to the main hall

   

   Right to temple 78, left to temple 79

   
   

   

   ‘Henro michi, Dai 79 ban ressho e’ – pilgrim trail towards temple number 79 (hiragana and kanji)

   

   ‘Migi e osaka touge henro michi’ – The Osaka mountain pass pilgrim trail is on the right (kanji and hiragana)

   
   

   

   ‘Ookuboki e yaku 1130m’ – approx 1130m to Ookuboji (Temple 88) – (kanji and hiragana)

   
   

2. Warnings

   

   ‘Kiken mamushi chu-ii’ – danger, mamushi snake warning. (katakana and kanji)

   

   ‘Kono hen hebi ni chu-ii’ – warning there are snakes in this area. (hiragana and kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Kono hen hebi ni chu-ii’ – warning there are snakes in this area. (hiragana and kanji)

   

   ‘Mamushi chu-ii’ – mamushi snake warning. (katakana and kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Mamushi ni chu-ii’ – mamushi snake warning. (hiragana and kanji)

   

   The red writing under the green arrow says ‘Mamushi chu-ii’ – mamushi snake warning. (katakana and kanji)

   
   

   

   (Warning, wild boars are often seen in this area at night-time, please be careful)

   

   ‘Doubutsu chu-ii’ – animal warning for cars. (kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Inoshishi chu-ii’ – wild boar warning. (kanji)

   

   ‘Inoshishi chu-ii’ – wild boar warning. (katakana and kanji)

   
   

   

   At temple 71 there are approx 530 steps to the main hall

   

   There is a tsunami shelter 210m in the direction of the red arrow

   
   

   

   This spot is 6.7m above sea level.

   

   ‘Henro korogashi’ – pilgrim fall down path (literal translation), watch your step! (hiragana)

   
   

   

   ‘Tobidashi chu-ii’ – careful of people running onto the road (for cars). (kanji and hiragana)

   

   Beware of bears!

   
   

   

   Beware of bears!

   

   Beware of bears!

   
   

3. Words of Encouragement

   

   ‘Jibun no pace o mamorou’ – go your own pace. (kanji, katakana and hiragana)

   

   ‘Dougyou ninin’ – together with Kobo Daishi. (kanji)

   
   

   

   ‘Dougyou ninin’ – together with Kobo Daishi. (kanji)

   

   ‘Henro fighto’ – fight pilgrim! (kanji and katakana)

   
   

   

   ‘Genki o dashite’ – go for it! (kanji and hiragana)

   

   The bottom line reads ‘Otsukaresamadeshta’ – thank you for your hard work. (hiragana)

   
   

   

   ‘Otsukaresamadeshta’ – thank you for your hard work. (kanji and hiragana)

   

   ‘Henro michi. Konnichiwa’ – pilgrim path, hello. (hiragana and kanji)

   
   

   

   The top line reads, ‘Chotto hitoiki’ – catch your breath, in hiragana). The bottom line reads ‘kyuukeisho’ – rest spot, in kanji.

   

   ‘Henro ganbariya’ – good luck pilgrim! (kanji and hiragana)

   
   

   

   ‘Ame no hi mo aru. Kaze no hi mo aru’ – there are days of rain and days of wind. (kanji and hiragana)

   

   ‘O ki o tsukete’ – take care. (kanji and hiragana)

   
   

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