Ōkubo-ji

Ōkubo-ji is where many pilgrims lay down the Shikoku journey. After 1,200 km and eighty-seven temples, they reach the eighty-eighth in a remote valley between sword-shaped peaks; many weep and describe it as the circuit's most affecting temple. The complete Gyōki 717 and Kūkai 815 foundation tradition remains in the origin account. Kūkai's hidden Yakushi Nyorai holds a conch horn rather than a medicine jar, symbolizing the dharma's voice in all directions; a substitute is displayed.

The kongō-zue is treated as Kūkai's body under dōgyō ninin, 'two walking together.' Pilgrims may deposit staff and hat among thousands in the repository. Spring and summer burning releases Daishi-presence and accumulated attachments, and the office issues the kechigan-shō. Many return to Temple 1, Ryōzen-ji, to close the circle, then report completion at Kūkai's mausoleum on Mt. Kōya in Wakayama.

The thinness at Ōkubo-ji is built from several layers at once: the geographic remoteness — a valley at 450 metres surrounded by sword-shaped peaks, far from any city; the unique conch-horn iconography of the Yakushi Nyorai; and the emotional weight of journey's end. Pilgrims often arrive after a long uphill walk from Maeyama Dam or by bus from Shido. The Niō Gate is broad.

The staff-repository hall is lined with thousands of kongō-zue, each marked with a pilgrim's name and the journey's accumulated grime. The valley closes the day's light early. Many pilgrims describe an exhaustion that is also a softening; the temple seems to take whatever has been carried.

Originally a small hermitage built by Gyōki in 717 around a heavenly revelation, then the site of Kūkai's cave practice on Mt. Nyotai in 815 and the consecration of the conch-Yakushi.

Repeatedly damaged and reconstructed across the medieval and early-modern periods. The kechigan (vow-fulfilling) function was consolidated as the Shikoku 88 circuit took its modern form; the staff-and-hat depositing tradition and the kechigan-shō certificate are key parts of the present-day pilgrim culture, whose institutional and ritual forms continue to evolve.

Reach the temple by bus from JR Shido Station or JR Tokushima; travel from Takamatsu with transfer is roughly 70–90 minutes. Driving from JR Takamatsu takes 60–70 minutes via Sanuki and Nagao roads. The approximately 16 km foot route from Nagao-ji offers a longer road via Maeyama Dam or shorter ridge path; mountain weather changes quickly.

At the Main Hall, bow, purify at the chōzuya, light one candle and three incense sticks, leave osamefuda, recite the Heart Sutra, and close with the Yakushi mantra (On korokoro sendari matōgi sowaka). Repeat the rite at the Daishi-dō and close with the Kōbō Daishi mantra. The honzon is hidden; a substitute is displayed. Completers may deposit staff and hat, receive kechigan-shō, return to Temple 1 Ryōzen-ji, and continue to Mt. Kōya.

The Niō Gate fronts the south side of the precinct. The Main Hall and Daishi-dō are at the centre. The staff-deposit hall stands within the precinct, its rows of kongō-zue immediately visible. The temple office issues the kechigan-shō. The valley walls of Mt. Yahazu and Mt. Nyotai close the precinct on either side.

Traditionally founded in 717 when the monk Gyōki visited the area, received a heavenly revelation, and built a small hermitage. In 815, Kūkai practised in a cave on Mt. Nyotai, then built a hall in the valley hollow — the 'great hollow' that gives the temple its name — and enshrined a Yakushi Nyorai he had carved by his own hand.

The image holds a conch-shell horn rather than the standard medicine jar, an iconographic feature unique among Shikoku temples and said to symbolise the dharma's voice spreading in all directions. The temple was repeatedly damaged and reconstructed across the medieval and early-modern periods.

As the Shikoku 88 circuit took its modern form, Ōkubo-ji's role as the kechigan-no-fuda-sho — the vow-fulfilling final temple — was consolidated, with the staff-and-hat depositing practice, the kechigan-shō certificate, and the spring-and-summer burning ritual emerging as the embodied culmination of pilgrim culture.

Shingon Buddhism (Daikaku-ji branch lineage). Foundational to the modern Shikoku 88 pilgrimage as the kechigan (vow-fulfilling) final temple. Closely connected to the dōgyō ninin teaching — pilgrim and Daishi walking together — and to the kongō-zue staff tradition.

Pilgrims follow the standard henro rite. After bowing at the gate and purifying at the chōzuya, a candle is lit and three sticks of incense placed at the Main Hall. An osamefuda nameslip is deposited, the Heart Sutra recited, and the Yakushi Nyorai mantra (On korokoro sendari matōgi sowaka) sounded. The same rite is repeated at the Daishi-dō, ending with the Kōbō Daishi mantra.

At journey's end, pilgrims who wish to may deposit their kongō-zue and sugegasa in the staff repository, and collect the kechigan-shō certificate from the temple office.

Daily Shingon services continue. Pilgrim completions are received year-round. The accumulated staffs and hats are ritually burned in spring and summer. Many pilgrims continue from Ōkubo-ji back to Temple 1, Ryōzen-ji in Tokushima, to formally close the circle, and then to Mt. Kōya in Wakayama to report completion at Kūkai's mausoleum.

If you intend to deposit your staff, do so deliberately. The staff has been your second body for the route — the Daishi has walked with you in the form of the kongō-zue. The act is the practice. After the rite, sit in the precinct for as long as you need. The road back from this valley will be different from the road in.

Ōkubo-ji is read in three frames: as the institutional and ritual capstone of the Shikoku 88, as a deep folk-religious threshold, and as an esoteric site of Kūkai-presence and surrender.

Films, episodes, and recorded talks for visitors who want more context before or after a visit. Speculative and alternative-history entries are labelled as perspectives, not as sources for established claims.

Continue through the atlas by country, tradition, physical form, or a focused search that combines this place’s strongest context.

Explore other sacred places in the region. Proximity does not establish access or travel time; check each place’s guidance.

Nagao-ji

Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

9.0 km away

Kirihata-ji

Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

12.9 km away

Kumadani-ji

Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

14.4 km away

Shido-ji

Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

15.0 km away

Sources consulted for this page. Source categories describe the publication, not a guarantee that every claim is verified. Traditional accounts and outside interpretations may differ.

1. 01Ōkubo-ji — WikipediaencyclopediaOverview
2. 02The 88th Temple Okuboji Temple — Sanuki History & Culture GuideguideLocal cultural guide; founding by Gyōki, Kūkai's cave practice, conch-horn Yakushi
3. 03Iouzan Henjyoukouin Okuboji – Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage — Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage ReizōkaiofficialOfficial pilgrimage site
4. 04Okuboji – Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture — Henro.orgguidePilgrim reference
5. 05Kongō-zue — WikipediaencyclopediaDefinitive overview of the pilgrim staff and its Kūkai symbolism
6. 06Customs and Etiquette of the Shikoku Pilgrimage — Henro.orgguidePilgrim etiquette
7. 07Sayonara Henro: Okuboji Temple 88 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage — Japan TravelguideFirst-hand account of completion ritual and kechigan-shō