Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The Henro Michi is the oldest and most famous pilgrimage route in Japan, and it consists of a circuit of eighty-eight temples around the perimeter of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands. Every henro, or pilgrim, is said to follow in the footsteps of Kobo Daishi, the ninth-century ascetic who founded the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Robert Sibley walked this 1,400-kilometer route (roughly 870 miles) in a little more than two months, visiting the sacred sites and performing the rituals. As he had discovered on his pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain, what began as a way to escape the confines of everyday life became a journey of surprising absorption in the emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of the pilgrimage.
Sibley writes of the panorama of sea, sky, and landscape along the route but also of the intimacy of gardens and courtyards, hot springs and waterfalls, where he spent solitary and quiet interludes. As a gaijin, or foreigner, he never saw another non-Japanese pilgrim on the trail during his entire trek. What is of particular interest in this account of his Shikoku pilgrimage are the Japanese people he met on the way, especially those who became his closest companions and his most ardent teachers of the language and the culture. Their own stories unfold as the author narrates his experiences, and the memories they leave behind have a lasting effect.
Synopsis
Compelled to seek something more than what modern society has to offer, Robert Sibley turned to an ancient setting for help in recovering what has been lost. The Henro Michi is one of the oldest and most famous pilgrimage routes in Japan. It consists of a circuit of eighty-eight temples around the perimeter of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands. Every henro, or pilgrim, is said to follow in the footsteps of Kōbō Daishi, the ninth-century ascetic who founded the Shingon sect of Buddhism. Over the course of two months, the author walked this 1,400-kilometer route (roughly 870 miles), visiting the sacred sites and performing their prescribed rituals.Although himself a gaijin, or foreigner, Sibley saw no other pilgrim on the trail who was not Japanese. Some of the people he met became not only close companions but also ardent teachers of the language and culture. These fellow pilgrims' own stories add to the author's narrative in unexpected and powerful ways. Sibley's descriptions of the natural surroundings, the customs and etiquette, the temples and guesthouses will inspire any reader who has longed to escape the confines of everyday life and to embrace the emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of a pilgrimage.