I have always had an interest in folk tales and legends and when I came to Japan as an exchange student in Kyoto, I started to study about Japanese folktales. It was at this time I discovered that many stories were about a famous Buddhist priest Kukai (also known as Kobo Daishi, 774-835). Later, when I entered graduate school in Canada, I while researching about Kukai I learned that he was born on Shikoku and had various sites around the island for ascetic practice. At that time very little research had been done on the Shikoku pilgrimage by non-Japanese academics, so I decided to write my thesis on the custom of support (osettai) along the pilgrimage route. After graduating I moved to Tokushima and for the past 25 years have continued my research and activities related to this pilgrimage route.

Many visitors to Japan want to go to places off the “golden route”, which often suffer from over-tourism. They are looking for a quieter place in Japan to experience the history and culture. They want to interact with the local people and try local food, and they would like to visit places at a slower pace, for example, by walking. By coming to Shikoku and embarking on the Shikoku pilgrimage route, people can experience all of these things. One long-held custom in Shikoku is that of helping one another and so foreign visitors are often surprised that they are treated so kindly by the local people.

For me, the fascination of this pilgrimage is that everywhere in Shikoku they are numerous stories and legends and pilgrims in the past or place. has its own stories about the pilgrimage. A lot of these tales are based on the theme of rewarding good and punishing evil, and people in the old days would have learnt about ethics and morality by hearing these stories from their parents. It is my goal to pass on these interesting stories to people that I guide around Shikoku.