Ruth: Until today we had one incomplete page in our henro stamp book, the one reserved for Koyasan. This morning we took two trains, a [...]

Gordon:  Today was our 55th and final day of walking or cycling.  We have covered a little over 1300 kms, as measured by the English [...]

Ruth: Thank goodness for these henro huts that are sprinkled along the route. As I write this I am sitting in one watching the first [...]

Ruth:  I would like to think that the reason I feel calmer and more serene is that my efforts on this pilgrimage are having an [...]

Gordon:  Temple 12 was unfinished business for Ruth. It is the first significant challenge on the Shikoku pilgrimage, and Ruth had been obsessively strategizing about [...]

Description Ryōzenji , temple number one on the Shikoku pilgrimage, is the beginning, end, and now the beginning for us. Unlike all the other pilgrimages [...]

The view from the ridge Gord climbed Ruth: Yesterday Gord and I climbed from the seashore to the Temple 88 on the Shikoku pilgrimage. I [...]

Gordon:  Despite its industrialization and massive cities, Japan still has a rich diversity of vegetation harbouring a lot of wildlife.   Some of the animals [...]

Ruth: I saw a t-shirt at a temple that simply said “Life is Henro,” and I am beginning to agree.  It’s hard not to compare [...]

Gordon:  Last night we spent the night at Minshuku Okada, located between Temples 65 and 66.  The proprietor, Akira Okada, is in many respects a [...]