Japan Heritage story
Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
1300年つづく日本の終活の旅
For 1,300 years, people have walked the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, Japan's first pilgrimage, visiting 33 temples of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, across Kansai and Gifu. It is a journey to look back on life and live the rest of it well.
Key facts
- Theme
- Forests and timber, Food and sake
- Era
- Heian
- Region
- Chubu, Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 1300年つづく日本の終活の旅
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～西国三十三所観音巡礼～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 和歌山県（那智勝浦町、和歌山市、紀の川市）・ 大阪府（和泉市、藤井寺市、茨木市、箕面市）・ 奈良県（高取町、明日香村、桜井市、奈良市）・ 京都府（宇治市、京都市、亀岡市、宮津市、舞鶴市）・ 滋賀県（大津市、長浜市、近江八幡市）・ 兵庫県（宝塚市、加東市、加西市、姫路市）・ 岐阜県（揖斐川町）
The story
Legend says that in 718 the monk Tokudo fell ill and found himself before King Enma, judge of the dead. Enma said too many people were falling into hell, gave him 33 treasure seals and sent him back to lead people on a pilgrimage to Kannon. Kannon is said to take 33 forms to save anyone in trouble, and her kindness became an ideal that people hoped to find in themselves.
Saigoku is Japan's first pilgrimage. Unlike Shikoku's 88-temple route, a walk of hardship with Kobo Daishi, it is a journey to feel Kannon's compassion. Many other Kannon circuits, such as Bando and Chichibu, were made as copies for people who could not travel this far. Along the way, each temple offers striking views, great statues and treasures, and pilgrims still sing the hymns said to be written by Emperor Kazan.
What to see
- Seigantoji (No. 1): the starting temple, where a vermilion three-storey pagoda stands before Nachi Falls.Google Maps 青岸渡寺 (opens in a new tab)
- Hasedera (No. 8): an Eleven-headed Kannon over 10 m tall, whose feet you can touch during special openings.Google Maps 長谷寺 桜井市 (opens in a new tab)
- Temple treasures: many of the 33 temples hold national treasures and important cultural properties.
Start in Wakayama with the Wakayama prefecture guide, continue through Nara and Kyoto, and see more temples and shrines.
Good to know
- Listen for the goeika, the hymns pilgrims still sing to praise the Kannon of each temple.
- Start at Seigantoji, where Nachi Falls and the vermilion pagoda make one of the route's finest views.
- At Hasedera, check the dates of special openings if you want to touch Kannon's feet.
Questions travellers ask
How many temples are on the Saigoku pilgrimage?
33 temples of Kannon across Wakayama, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Shiga, Hyogo and Gifu.
How is it different from the Shikoku pilgrimage?
Shikoku's 88 temples are an ascetic walk with Kobo Daishi; Saigoku is a journey to feel Kannon's compassion and is not called henro.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- 800 years of Japanese tea in Uji and southern Kyoto
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Ako: the town that made Japan's finest salt
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Awaji: the first island in Japan's creation myth
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Gifu: Oda Nobunaga's town of hospitality
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Hinenosho: a medieval estate next to Kansai Airport
- Hirokawa: the tsunami levee built for a hundred generations
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.