Temple: Otakiji – which means waterfall temple. It’s on a mountain 950m high and is the last bangai. Kukai trained here and wrote about it in Sango Shiiki. It’s one of only three temples on Shikoku he wrote about directly.

Dedication: may all beings be happy.

John was saying to me a few days ago that when you can see the beauty in yourself you can see it in the world. I think this is circular as well: when you see beauty in the world you start to allow yourself to see it within you.  I can see beauty in everyone. Sometimes it’s buried, sometimes it’s obvious but every person is beautiful.

I woke at 4 from my sleep on a bench near the brand new museum of telescopes to visit the last two temples.

I found the mountain path hidden behind a shed, that was itself behind a shrine. The path was incredibly steep in places and the day was very foggy but that all felt good for a final day. As I neared the top I stopped for a breather and a bird, an uguisu I think, flew within centimetres of my face and landed on a branch in front of me.

The temple was just another temple. What else could it be?  When I’d said my dedications I pressed the bell and the monk came out smiling to sign my book and gave me a handful of candy and some water.

On to 108.