Returning to the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage

Apr 24
2 min read

Some journeys don’t end when we leave.

They quietly continue walking beside us.

In the autumn of 2024, I walked the first 28 temples of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Japan. At the time, I couldn’t fully explain why the journey felt so meaningful. I only knew that, with each passing day, something inside me became quieter, softer, and more present.

This November, I will return to continue the pilgrimage.

As the journey draws closer, I find myself thinking less about the temples and more about how I felt while walking between them.

I have always loved Japan — its culture, its food, its simplicity, and the quiet reverence it holds for nature. There is a tender care in the way things are preserved: the forests, the trails, the temples, and the small details of everyday life.

Walking through Shikoku often felt as though time had slowed down. The trails were peaceful. Sometimes we walked for long stretches without seeing another person.

Yet, these same trails have been walked for centuries — by monks, pilgrims, nobles, and seekers, each carrying their own hopes, questions and prayers.

Somehow, that thought never made me feel small. It made me feel connected. It’s a feeling of being part of something much larger than myself.

There are moments I still remember clearly.

The sound of temple bells drifting through the mountains.

The quiet rhythm of monks chanting.

Pilgrims dressed in white, wearing straw hats and carrying wooden staffs.

The beautiful calligraphy brushed into our pilgrimage books at each temple.

The crisp autumn air beneath the cedar forests.

And perhaps most of all…

the kindness.

Local people would quietly offer us small gifts, warm smiles, or words of encouragement as we passed. They expected nothing in return. It was generosity in its simplest form.

Looking back, I don’t remember having any great spiritual experience.

What I remember is something much quieter.

With every step, I became more present, more grateful, more content than I had been in a long time.

This November, I will return.

Not because I expect to recreate those feelings.

Journeys rarely repeat themselves.

I’ll return because some paths seem to keep calling us until we’ve finished listening.

Sometimes we travel to discover the world.

Sometimes we walk…

to discover a quieter part of ourselves.

Interested in walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage with us? Learn more here: https://www.internationaltravellovers.com/post/japan-shikoku-88-temple-pilgrimage