Breakfast at Takeyashiki. The hotel was the among the most expensive place we’ve stayed during this trip, though down in Cape Ashizuri may have been just as expensive. It was more of a “retreat” hotel than a pilgrim lodging, but there were only two hotels to choose from in this area and Takeyashiki was closest to where we needed to get this morning.When the fuel for the flame runs out, the dish in the pot is ready.Contents of the pot with the dipping sauce. The pink/white flower is a type of pressed and molded fish cake.
Although we “only” had one temple to visit to complete the hyaku–hachi (108) combination of the 88 Temple Pilgrimage plus the 20 Special Temples, the day turned out to be one of our toughest climbs. Starting at 287 meters-above-sea-level, over the course of 6.6 kilometers we were to climb to 884 meters up some of the steepest paths we had yet encountered, follow a ridge, and continue up to 910 meters. Bekkaku Temple 20 is the highest of all the 108 temples we visited. The climb started just after 9:00 a.m. and we didn’t reach the temple until a little after 1:00 p.m.
There were numerous locations where ropes had been laid out to literally pull yourself up the path. The path just went on and on. We needed to get to the top and then descend again. We had decided, rather than return to the official pilgrim path, that we would continue down the south side of the mountain into the city of Mima. That would put us into the valley where the Yoshino River flows directly to and through Tokushima where Ryozenji (Temple 1) awaited our return.
Out of the valley and climbing to Bekkaku Temple 20.Looking across to the other mountains.Hondo – Otakaji (Bekkaku Temple 80 – “Large Waterfall Temple”). After all the effort to get here, Otakiji was a bit of a let down. Just a couple of small building and not many of the other statues and monuments we’d grown accustomed to seeing at other temples.Daishido – Otakiji. The doors to the Daishido were closed while we were there and the stamp office worker (monk?) was out cutting the grass while were at the two temples. We had to wait for him to finish before getting the final juzu bead.Beads to make a juzu. A juzu is basically the Buddhist version of a Catholic rosary. I’ve been collecting one from each Bekkaku Temple since we started. Here are the twenty beads from each temple and, since 21 is a lucky number, a special bead from one of the temples (Bekkaku Temple 15) with a string to tie it all together. Since I used “Zuzu’s petals!” from “It’s a Wonderful Life” to help me remember what they were called, I’m pretty sure I called it a zuzu during one of my interviews with the documentary filmmakers a few weeks back.Bell Tower – OtakijiDaishido written out in kanji. – OtakijiNishitera Shrine. Since the shrine was located next to the temple, we decided to check it out. It was alright.Nishitera ShrineNishitera ShrineNishitera ShrineNishitera ShrineDescending to Mima City included another rarely-used path down the mountain. It didn’t start out badly, but slowly descended into chaos. It now places second to Horikiri Pass as the worst path on the pilgrimage. While today wasn’t supposed to be a “gimme”, couldn’t we catch a break??
We plan to make it to some lodging near Temple 10 tomorrow during our return. When we started the pilgrimage, Connor couldn’t decide whether he wanted the book or a scroll for the temple stamps. He eventually picked out a book, but after we had visited the first 10 temples. We may split up after tomorrow for a day or two while Connor gets his book stamped at Temples 1-10 and 17 (long story), while I have to just get back to Temple 1 and then make my way (using any mode of transportation I want!) to Mt. Koya near Osaka. He’ll likely rent a bicycle and get the stamp book completed by the end of the day. We’ll meet again at Koya-san.
Wow congrats, its been a pure pleasure to follow you both along your journey. Can’t wait to return and it will be a different adventure for me. My knee will not allow me to continue walking and I really want to complete temples 62 to 88. Your great photos and daily comments have been wonderful. Well done. Jacqueline
2023 Shikoku Henro 
Wow congrats, its been a pure pleasure to follow you both along your journey. Can’t wait to return and it will be a different adventure for me. My knee will not allow me to continue walking and I really want to complete temples 62 to 88. Your great photos and daily comments have been wonderful. Well done. Jacqueline
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