Temple: Anrakuji

Dedication: Dad, for everything you’ve done for me and continue to do for me. It’s been tough sometimes but thank you for listening.

Picture: Pierre. He’d walked the temples in Tokushima prefecture a couple of years ago and now he’s back to visit all 88 and see some more of Japan. I’m going to do the extra 20 bekkaku temples starting with Taisanji, which is off the main path up a mountain, so we said goodbye here.

The women in the stamp office admired my improvised wallet made from a pencil case and then told me I could stay in the belltower for free and that another pilgrim was staying there. So I stopped early for the day. I went and found some dinner from a convenience store near a golf driving range and a hotel in the shape of a castle. When I got back my companion was already there, a grey-haired man who was already getting into his sleeping bag at 8.