Osettai Pilgrimage

[Marva Richardt]

The88 Temple Pilgrimage is an ancient ,1200 year old journey around the island of Shikoku, Japan. The pilgrimage was founded by Kukai, called Kobo Daishi posthumously. In ancient times, Shikoku was a place of exile, wild mountains and forests so walking the pilgrimage was dangerous. Pilgrims walked the route in white burial robes, signalling their preparedness for death, physically or metaphorically. Today, it is common for pilgrims to wear the white robes as they walk.

A traditional belief is that Kobo Daishi walks with each pilgrim and his spirit resides in the ohenros walking stick. Furthermore, ohenros are considered to be monks while on the pilgrimage, and in Buddhism it is common to support and offer gifts to monks. Consequently, the concept of giving to the pilgrims evolved on the island of Shikoku into Osettai.

Some of us, and certainly westerners like myself grew up being uncomfortable with gifts from strangers, but one learns on pilgrimage that sometimes it is important to accept a gift because it is the giver who needs to give. Thus one should always accept a gift with humility and gratitude. You can always pass on the gift to someone more in need, or choose to keep the kind act of generosity flowing by offering gifts to others.

Getting into the flow of the 88 Temple Pilgrimage one learns to accept these gifts, and at some point the act of giving starts to become a natural instinct. I for one realized that often, I have given because it makes me feel good, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, when one starts to give without thought or any ego involved, a great joy fills the soul.

One day well into my pilgrimage, I stopped about 11K before Temple 46 where a tiny woman, Kayochan, offered tea, a slice of cheesecake, and a small ohenro trinket. She had an aura of joy around her that touched me. We had a wonderful hour with her sharing her story and feeling her positive beautiful energy. She was 77 years old and the previous year in 2018 had moved from her home and purchased a small house here and started to offer Osettai to pilgrims.

As we were approaching the end of our pilgrimage, we heard of a gentleman, Tomo, who welcomed pilgrims into his home. My partner Mika reached out to him and Tomo picked us up in his car at Temple 75 and drove us to his home where he provided us our own room, an evening meal he cooked himself, and a hearty breakfast in the morning. Afterwards he drove us back to Temple 75 but not before taking us to a local Udon Noodle Restaurant where we learned about the art of making proper Udon.

Also, while I mention the purity of it, many Buddhists here do believe settai givers are giving to Kobo Daishi and gaining merit for their next lives. But some of the settai givers have been doing so for years and you sense they are no longer concerned with gaining merit but just do so for the joy of being of service. It is quite beautiful to sense and experience.

Experiencing Osettai has led me to opening Global Pilgrim House. Our home is in Muxia, in the region of Galicia in northwest Spain. Our home on the edge of the medieval world, overlooks Muxia and the ocean sea. We welcome pilgrims to visit, and to learn about the many Camino de Santiago options as well as other pilgrimages around the world. All in a comfortable setting over a drink or two. And of course all on an Osettai basis.

More information on the 88 Buddhist Temple Pilgrimage and Kumano Kodo are available on this website. And there is lots of information on it in the post: How The Japan 88 Temple and Kumano Kodo Pilgrimages Are Different From The Camino de Santiago.

Calling these pilgrims "o-henro-san," or those who walk the path, the locals support their safe journeys by offering meals and places to rest. The custom, called "osettai," is rooted deeply in their daily lives. In recent years, it is impressing visitors from overseas.

This summer, Olivia Kivel from the United States began volunteering at a local inn near Ryozenji Temple in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture. The inn is one of several so-called "henro-yado." Kivel went there in hopes of learning about the osettai culture.

This inn is run solely by a nun, named Doryu Takahara, who has completed the pilgrimage route more than 100 times. She offers free breakfast to those who stay at the inn so they won't have to walk on an empty stomach. She also offers help to all pilgrims, regardless of whether they stay at the inn or not. She teaches those from abroad how to put on the unique white pilgrimage robe and offer prayers. Takahara also helps them plan their subsequent lodgings. All of her osettai services are free, and she covers the costs out of the income she earns from her pension.

Kivel says she initially felt a slight sense of incongruity about Takahara's selfless efforts. But Kivel realized something important after watching Takahara see pilgrims off every morning with a smile until they were out of sight and praying for their safety: Understanding and helping others provides the giver with satisfaction and growth.

Kivel says, "If the pilgrims need something to continue the henro, she makes sure they have it and that they are happy. So I think she is showing me how to show warmth towards others and to grow my heart."

Tokushima University Associate Professor David Moreton, from Canada, is an expert on the pilgrimage route. He says, "It is unfortunate that the custom of selflessly helping and supporting another seems to have disappeared around the world, but when people come they are amazed and thankful that it still exists along the route and are happy to see that people help one another as fellow human beings regardless of background, culture, or race."

Kivel plans to stay at Takaraha's inn to help her out until the end of this month. She hopes to open her own place someday, somewhere in the United States, based on the things she has learned from Takahara's spirit of osettai.

The Shikoku pilgrimage is constantly evolving, adapting with the times to welcome all types of pilgrims, including increasing numbers of young people, and visitors from abroad. In addition to the traditional pilgrimage on foot, pilgrims these days might travel the route by bicycle, and there are even bus tours that whisk pilgrims from one sacred site to the next. With the route being circular there are no strict rules about where it begins and ends, or in which direction pilgrims must travel. Jun-uchi means visiting the temples in numerical order, while gyaku-uchi means going in the reverse order. Meanwhile, kugiri-uchi refers to doing the pilgrimage over a number of years, one section at a time.

In 2009, as part of an effort to revitalise the town of Naruto, a local resident group renovated the workshop of a 100-year-old Meiji Era printing house to use as a reception space. Located near the first temple, Ryōzan-ji, local volunteers offer o-settai here. The vintage timber building is a designated Tangible Cultural Property and was used as part of the film set for the 2006 film Ode to Joy (Baruto no Gakuen), a true story about German prisoners of war interned in the Bandō Prisoner-of-War Camp here in Naruto, during the Second World War.

Ryūsui-an is a former hermitage located along Shōsan-ji Michi, the path connecting the eleventh temple, Fujii-dera, with the twelfth temple, Shōsan-ji. This path includes a series of steep climbs and descents, which, for pilgrims who embarked on the Henro at the first temple, is their first encounter with difficult terrain. Ryūsui-an is now used as an o-settaireception space run by a group of ten volunteers, who take turns staffing the space. A resourceful bunch, the volunteers sell wild vegetables such as bracken shoots (warabi) to pay the utility bills. One of the volunteers tells me with a smile that meeting interesting people, from celebrities to foreign visitors, is one of the things she enjoys most about her work.

Editor and Japanese-English translator Judy Evans has a background in education, the arts, production horticulture and landscape design. A secondary school teacher of Japanese and English who spent many years living and working in Japan, Judy now lives on a small farm in rural New Zealand and remains a frequent visitor to Japan.

(1) Make sure you check the posted signage before entering a temple. Many have rather strict rules around photography and videography, especially when photographing statues or deities. At busier temples, photographers can clog paths and disrupt the peace.

Osettai can come in the form of fruit, meals, car rides (although you can politely reject this if you are solely walking), or even money. Pictured above are some osettai goodies offered by an unknown stranger, found at a rest hut along the trail.

In exchange for osettai, a recipient pilgrim should always, if possible, give the gifter an osamefuda. This is a good way to express gratitude, especially if you do not speak Japanese. Never ask for or expect osettai. Gifts are given by the goodwill of the locals.

Pilgrimages and treks can be physically strenuous and unpredictable. If you are unsure whether you should embark, please consult with a physician. Henro International assumes no liability for accidents, injuries, or disputes stemming from the information found on this website.

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There is also just less frequency of accommodation in Japan than Spain (outside of the cities). There are some places in Shikoku, with no accommodation for 20-25 kms along the trail. That never happens in Spain, I would say there is accommodation every 5-10 kms along the trail.

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