When my Japanese friends ask what I do on the weekend, I tell them I visit one of the 33 temples in the Bandou temple pilgrimage circuit(坂東巡礼) . Many have heard of the 88 temple pilgrimage circuit of Shikoku, but few Japanese know that there is a pilgrimage circuit in the Tokyo area.

In Tokyo, there are exquisite gems of beauty and history, if you know where to find them, and many of the temples on this circuit are both beautiful and historical.

Not only do you see the green of the countryside and buildings over 1000 years old, but you also get to interact with the people in rural Japan — who tend to be more friendly and open than the urbanites.

Once, it started raining as I was walking up the narrow one-lane road winding between green rice fields on my way to the temple. I stood to the side to let a passing car past, and he stopped, asked me if I was going to the temple, and offered to give me a ride. It turned out he was a farmer in the village who also helped out at the temple which was staffed only by laymen like himself. Another time, I was visiting with my family on a cold winter day, and the priest invited us inside for some tea. Another time, when it was too far to walk, I took a taxi. This temple is situated at the entrance to an old stone quarry, so there was a souvenir shop at the entrance, selling little stone carvings. The taxi driver hopped out and insisted on buying me a souvenir to take home to my wife.

Kiyomizudera seal

While some modern day pilgrims dress in the simple white tunic and loose fitting pants of the traditional pilgrim, most people just go as they are. One tradition that continues is for each pilgrim to fill an album with the seal from each temple on the circuit. The album is called a noukyouchou (納経), and you can purchase one at any of the temples. The photo shows the seal from the 32nd temple, Kiyomizu-dera.

Exploring Kanto

My guide for this journey is a book in English, “Exploring Kanto”, by Michael Plastow, which is unfortunately now out of print. Plastow describes a foot hike associated with each of the 33 temples, gives a little background on the history of each, and most importantly tells how to get there. Amazon has used copies for sale.

A familiar sight on a summer day in Tokyo is pre-adolescent kids rushing from train station to train station to fill up little albums with a rubber stamp from each station. The train companies have a promotion where they give little prizes to kids who bring in a completed album. Each station has a small table with a rubber stamp illustrating some local curiosity or landmark. It is called a “stamp rally” , スタンプラリー , which is a transliteration of the English.

The stamp rally probably had its origins in the pilgrim’s albums, but today, the act of getting management approval on a document within a company is also called a stamp rally. Approvals in Japan are by hanko, or official seals, and many documents which need approval have multiple little squares where you must affix the seal of the approving manager. The process requires one to scurry from desk to desk collecting all the seals. The result in a company is not often as eternally satisfying as those from the temple circuit.

You don’t need to do them in order, so I picked temples by whim. The last temple, Nagoji, was my goal on a summer day two years ago. From Tokyo station, it’s a two hour train ride through Chiba, into the countryside. You know you are out of the suburbs when the track is only a single track for both directions. I was the only one to get off the train that morning. I asked the station master for a map of the local area, and was on my way. At the temple, the priest leafed through my album, and saw that there were some blank ones, and commented on this. I confessed to him that I was not doing them in order. He then explained that while he was happy to put the seal in my album, he could not award me with the certificate, which one gets upon completion of the 33. He said that only the 33rd temple needed to be done in order. He welcomed me to come back again when I had the others filled in.

Kasamoriji

One of my favorite temples was Kasamoriji, founded in 784, and built on a high rock outcropping, with huge cedars all around. The day I visited, it was raining, and I was the only visitor, looking out from the balcony fifty feet above the ground, through the mist into the forest.

By foot, the circuit is 1300 kilometers (800 miles) from the first in Kamakura, south of Tokyo, through 7 prefectures ringing the city clockwise, to the last on the tip of the Boso peninsula, southeast of Tokyo. There are bus tours that get you to all 33 temples in three weekend tours. However, for me, the journey was as important as the destination. I tried to take buses and walk the last mile whenever bus schedules permitted. Each bus stop has a schedule posted, so I check the return bus before walking to the temple. I remember one temple where I had to run a mile up hill and a mile back because the only return bus left in one hour.

I started the pilgrimage in 2001, and completed visits to 24 temples in the first two years. Now, eight years later, I still have two more to go, plus my return to the final one. I am a little reluctant to finish it, like a good book that you are sorry to finish. Sometime in the coming months, I will make that trip back to Nagoji, at the far tip of Boso peninsula, and pick up my certificate.

The website in Japanese is www.bandou.gr.jp. There is also a blog maintained by some people who advocate a bike tour of the temple circuit, also in Japanese www.bandoaruki.net.

Bandou Map