Phoetic : A Shikoku Temple Pilgrimage

Phoetic : A Shikoku Temple Pilgrimage updated their phone number.

Phoetic : A Shikoku Temple Pilgrimage updated their website address.

We are still receiving donations. To give a blind person their sight back, click here: https://donorbox.org/expedition-wide-eyed-shikoku-pilgrimage

Expedition Wide-Eyed | FreeFall Labs (powered by DonorBox)

Through the pilgrim's eyes: a brief video introduction to walking around the temples.
https://youtu.be/p7Pl4NOp_B8

Shikoku 88 Temples Japan: The Temples 四国八十八ヶ寺巡礼、日本 What you do at a temple, and how you would hope to live your life as a good person is kind of the same. It's preparation. It's respect. It's thinking about w...

The last step of the 88 temple pilgrimage is to climb Mt Koya on the main island of Japan and visit the monasteries founded by Kobo Daishi, the monk in whose footsteps the pilgrimage traces.

Nagisa joined me for the final walk, 6 hours hiking up Mt Koya, and we arrived after dark, temperature a few degrees above zero, at the massive Daimon (large gate) which marks the entrance to the mountain-top monastery town. It's a breathtaking sight to behold when you walk up out of the forest and this flood-lit structure fills your vision!

Yesterday we visited the tomb of Kobo Daishi and some of the large temples and pagodas which attract many foreign and Japanese pilgrims and tourists all year around.

For me, it was the final step in a 7 week expedition and pilgrimage. I've appreciated the many encouraging comments and help along the way, thank you everyone!

Donations for the blind charity are still possible until this Sunday night 27 November; $25 will give one person their sight. Link here:

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/expedition-wide-eyed #

A weary but fulfilled wanderer : Update from the last temple #88

さらに、この道のりを歩いているサイモンがゴールに到達するのを応援する為の募金もあります!
応援してくれた方々には、旅の途中で出会う四国の様々な美しい瞬間をポストカードにしてシェアしたいと思います!
NZ＄100(¥7500)以上の応援をしてくれた方々には、詩＆写真集をプレゼントします!
詩&写真集は来年出版予定です!

送り先をメールしてくれた方々、お楽しみに(^^)

Reaching the 1000km mark near Zentsuji temple, #75 of 88 temples.

A pilgrimage around Shikoku Island, Japan to raise money for Fred Hollows Foundation, giving sight back to people in underprivileged places.

友達が88ヶ所のお遍路を44日間で歩きながら募金を募っております。
目の不自由な方に視覚を取り戻してもらう手助けをしています。毎日NZ＄25(約¥2000)集まれば毎日一人救う事が出来ます。
集まったお金は100%、Fred Hollows Foundationに寄付されます。
皆様の温かい応援をお待ちしております。

To donate:
https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/expedition-wide-eyed #

Givealittle - Fundraiser - Expedition "Wide-Eyed" A pilgrimage around Shikoku Island, Japan to raise money for Fred Hollows Foundation, giving sight back to people in underprivileged places. Givealittle is the place to donate and fundraise for causes and charities online.

The wildlife and not-so-wildlife I've encountered along the trail.

Today brought me back to the coast, to temple #59 on the north-west corner of Shikoku island. I've covered over 800km, and have 2 weeks remaining to hike the remaining 350km or so. I usually start walking about 7am and continue until about 5pm when it starts to get dark and I look for a camp spot.

I plan to make a detour in a day or two and climb the highest mountain on the island, before returning to the trail at temple #60.

Halfway! Day 22 of 44. And so far about 20 blind people will have their sight restored thanks to the donations received.

I'm hiking 1200km around Shikoku with the goal to fundraise to help restore sight to one blind person for each day on the trail (thanks to the Fred Hollows Foundation).

One blind person can be given sight for about NZ $25 (17€ or ¥2000). So far I'm halfway towards the goal of 44 blind people helped.

If you'd like to donate, here is the link:

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/expedition-wide-eyed #

It's been an eye-opening trek so far, with beautiful and magic encounters with people and nature every day.
As part of the journey I'm stopping often to photograph these moments, and put some into prose.
Afterwards I will produce a photo-poetry book about this pilgrimage and Shikoku island culture. If you'd like to be part of this you can contact me directly.
Donations can be made here (NZ $100 or more and I'll send you a free copy of the final book):

https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/4831-phoetic-a-shikoku-temple-pilgrimage

Thanks for reading!

These photos are shot in and around the 88 Buddhist temples on the Shikoku pilgrimage.

Some friends meet along the way...

The 88 temple pilgrimage has special significance to Buddhists. It winds its way through the 4 prefectures of Shikoku (about 1200km in length), and thus one's progress is thought to correspond to 4 stages of enlightenment.
1. Awakening (Tokushima prefecture)
2. Ascetic training (Kochi prefecture)
3. Enlightenment (Ehime prefecture)
4. Nirvana (Kagawa prefecture)

Pilgrims of all nationalities and belief systems are found on the trail. Everyone has a unique reason to visit the temples, and some don't even know their reason until they've finished!

Yesterday I reached Kochi prefecture, and the 200km mark. Here are a few photos of the various scenery I've been enjoying along the foot-sore way.

First 100km covered on foot. A few photos to celebrate the milestone.

Today the pilgrimage starts. The first steps of 1200 km around Shikoku. Starting at Ryozen-ji temple #1.

Tomorrow I start the journey from here at Lake Biwa near Kyoto, to Shikoku island where the pilgrimage is located. A day of hitchhiking and then 2 days to cycle across a 70km-long series of bridges from the mainland to Shikoku island. Late next week I will start the pilgrimage.

If you'd like to support part of my costs for the 6 week pilgrimage, and production of a coffee-table book "Phoetic", I've set up a pledge page at the link below.
Some donations qualify for a personalised gift, which I will send out after the journey is complete.
Any contribution helps me to achieve this expedition.
Many thanks!

https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/4831-phoetic-a-shikoku-temple-pilgrimage

Phoetic : A Shikoku Temple Pilgrimage | PledgeMe A pilgrimage covering 88 temples in 44 days in Japan. Sharing the journey by producing a photo-poetry book, and raising money for charity.

It costs the Fred Hollows Foundation about $25 to give sight to a blind person in a developing country. If I can raise $25 for every day I'm walking, this amount will help 44 people to be able to see and appreciate the beautiful world we live in.
Knowing you donated will also encourage and motivate me during the difficult moments on the pilgrimage!

To donate please follow the link below:
https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/expedition-wide-eyed #

Givealittle - Fundraiser - Expedition "Wide-Eyed" A pilgrimage around Shikoku Island, Japan to raise money for Fred Hollows Foundation, giving sight back to people in underprivileged places. Givealittle is the place to donate and fundraise for causes and charities online.

Japan is a land of surprises, textures of modernity and undiluted culture running parallel, a wallpaper of enchantment.
My dream and goal is to hike around 88 temples, over 44 days, and try to capture the aromas of Shikoku in Photos and Poetry, producing a book titled "Phoetic".

On Shikoku island, Japan's 4th largest island, there is an ancient pilgrimage, a 1200km loop which passes by 88 buddhist temples. It's known locally as Hachijūhakkasho (八十八箇所). Pilgrims who follow the route are called o-henro, and are recognised by their distinctive white clothes and cone-shaped hat.