Anraku-ji (安楽寺)

Anraku-ji is Temple 6 of the Shikoku 88, in Kamiita, Tokushima. Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing, presides here, and Anraku-ji is the only fudasho with its own onsen. Many walking pilgrims set this 16-kilometer mark as their first night, joining the chief priest for evening sutra and bathing afterward.

Sixteen kilometers from Temple 1, on the first long day of walking, the road into Kamiita ends at a temple that means what its name says. Anraku-ji is the Temple of Peace and Comfort. Its principal image is Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing — Bhaiṣajyaguru in Sanskrit — and the temple is the only fudasho on the entire Shikoku 88 with its own onsen, a hot spring whose discovery is attributed to Kūkai. The convergence is exact: a Buddha of healing, a Kūkai-discovered hot spring, and the only proper hot-spring shukubo on the route. Many henro plan their first night here. The day's geography is part of the temple's identity. Pilgrims who walk from Ryōzen-ji typically arrive in late afternoon, having moved through five preceding temples and roughly sixteen kilometers of road, paddy field, and small-village street. Their feet ache. The mountain name Onsenzan ('Hot Spring Mountain') and the hall name Ruri-kō-in ('Lapis-Lazuli-Light Hall' — Yakushi's eastern paradise of healing) are not abstract. They describe what the temple physically offers: hot water, rest, prayer, sleep, a vegetarian shōjin-ryōri evening meal supplemented with local Tokushima ingredients, and an evening sutra service led by the chief priest in which guests may join. The current Hondō was rebuilt in 1966 after a 1955 fire; the temple's continuous documented function as a pilgrim ekiroji — a roadside lodging temple — extends back four hundred years through the patronage of the Hachisuka clan. The shukubo offers traditional Shoin Japanese-style rooms, a Western-style Kōdō wing with beds, and a New Wing combining the two. The bath is the day's reward. The chanting before bed is the day's frame.

Part of Shikoku Pilgrimage.

Founded by Kūkai in 815 after he discovered a hot spring and carved a Yakushi Nyorai image. Razed in the 16th century, relocated to the current site, established as a Hachisuka-clan-supported lodging temple in the Edo period. Hondō rebuilt 1966 after a 1955 fire. Now a Kōyasan Shingon parish temple with active shukubo and onsen.

Kūkai is said to have been walking through the area when he discovered a hot spring rising from the ground. He recognized the site as suitable for a temple of healing, carved a Yakushi Nyorai image, and named the temple Anraku-ji — 'Temple of Peace and Comfort' — with the explicit intention that the site become a refuge of healing for all beings. The discovery of the spring is attributed to him, though geothermal continuity across the twelve centuries since cannot be independently established.

Anraku-ji is a parish temple of the Kōyasan Shingon-shū. Its identity as the healing temple of the Shikoku 88 — Buddha of Healing, hot spring, shukubo — folds together esoteric Buddhist soteriology, Shingon's characteristic embodied practice, and the older Japanese tradition of onsen as therapeutic and ritually saturated water. The temple is also one of the most documented continuous shukubo on the route, with four-plus centuries of pilgrim lodging records.

Anraku-ji is the Shikoku 88's healing temple in literal embodied form: the Buddha of Healing as principal image, a hot spring attributed to Kūkai, and the only fudasho shukubo with its own onsen. Many pilgrims mark their first-day identity transition here, after their feet ache for the first time.

Yakushi Nyorai's twelve great vows include healing of body and mind, freedom from illness, sufficient food and clothing, and the eventual realization of the Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli Light in the east. Anraku-ji's hall name Ruri-kō-in is a direct reference to that Pure Land. The hot spring saturates this theology with literal water: the bath is not separate from the prayer. Walking henro who finish their first day here often describe an integrative effect — the pain of the day washed out in the bath, the chanting before sleep folding the day into a single ritual frame, the morning beginning with breakfast and a short service before they shoulder packs and start again. The temple's identity as the early route's healing site is older than written records of the henro practice and continues unchanged.

Founded by Kūkai in 815. He is said to have walked through the area, found a hot spring, carved a Yakushi Nyorai image, and named the temple Anraku-ji ('Temple of Peace and Comfort') with the wish that the site become a refuge of healing for all sentient beings.

Razed by Chōsokabe Motochika in the 16th century and relocated to its current site, Anraku-ji became a roadside lodging temple — ekiroji — under the patronage of the Hachisuka clan, the daimyō family of Edo-period Awa. The shukubo function has continued for more than four hundred years. The Hondō burned in 1955 and was rebuilt in 1966. The present temple is a Kōyasan Shingon parish temple with active overnight pilgrim accommodation.

Standard Shikoku 88 protocol at Hondō and Daishi-dō with the Yakushi mantra. Overnight guests join the evening sutra service, bathe in the onsen, eat shōjin-ryōri, and may attend morning service before continuing. The bath is itself a ritual within the temple's healing-Buddha framework.

At each main hall, the standard ritual: chōzuya purification, one bell stroke on arrival, candle from the temple flame, three incense sticks, osamefuda, coin, sutra. The Yakushi Nyorai mantra ('On koro koro sendari matōgi sowaka') is chanted at the Hondō. The Kōbō Daishi mantra is chanted at the Daishi-dō. The evening service for shukubo guests is conducted by the chief priest in the Hondō and follows the standard Shingon evening liturgy, with guests joining where they can — chanting the Heart Sutra together, sometimes taking part in a shomyo-style invocation. The onsen practice is older than written henro records: enter the bath only after washing thoroughly, soak quietly, do not splash, and do not bring towels into the water itself.

Daily Shingon liturgy continues. The shukubo accepts overnight bookings year-round, with traditional Shoin, Western-style Kōdō, and New Wing rooms. Evening otsutome (service) is offered to overnight guests; day-only pilgrims do not typically attend. The onsen is open to overnight guests and, when capacity allows, to day visitors. Booking ahead is strongly recommended during peak henro seasons (March-May, October-November).

If you are walking the route, plan Anraku-ji as your Day 1 stop if possible. The 16-kilometer day from Ryōzen-ji to here is the conventional first walk. Book the shukubo well ahead. After arriving and completing the standard ritual at both halls, soak in the onsen before dinner. Attend the evening service even if you do not chant; standing or sitting in the back is welcomed. Sleep early. If you are not staying overnight, complete the standard ritual and continue to Temple 7; day visits do not always include onsen access.

Arrive late afternoon on Day 1, complete the standard ritual at the Hondō and Daishi-dō, check in at the shukubo, soak in the onsen before dinner, eat shōjin-ryōri, attend the evening service led by the chief priest, sleep, and continue at sunrise.

The walk from Jizō-ji to Anraku-ji is about five kilometers along quiet roads through Kamiita. The Niōmon is unhurried, the precinct medium-sized, the chōzuya near the gate, the Hondō ahead, and the Daishi-dō to one side. At the Hondō the standard sequence — candle, three incense sticks, osamefuda, coin, the Heart Sutra, and the Yakushi mantra ('On koro koro sendari matōgi sowaka'). The same at the Daishi-dō. After the formal ritual, henro staying overnight check in at the shukubo office. Rooms are organized by wing: the Shoin building with traditional tatami rooms and futon bedding, the Kōdō building with Western-style beds, and the New Wing combining elements of both. The onsen schedule rotates between men's and women's hours; observe the schedule posted at the bath entrance. Pilgrims wash thoroughly before entering the bath — soap and shampoo at low stools, full rinse, then enter the bath itself, sitting low with the body submerged to shoulder level. No swimwear. Tattoos may be restricted; ask in advance. Dinner is served in a shared dining room: shōjin-ryōri vegetarian dishes supplemented with local Tokushima fish and produce. Evening service in the Hondō begins around eight; the chief priest leads, and guests may join the chanting if they wish. Quiet hours begin around 21:00. Breakfast is early. By 7:00 most henro are walking again.

From Jizō-ji walk southwest about 5 km along the henro markers. From JR Itano Station, take a bus or taxi. Free parking on site. For day-only visitors: bow at the Niōmon, do the chōzuya, ring the bell once, complete the standard ritual at both halls, get the stamp. For overnight guests: book ahead by phone or via the temple's official channels — peak henro seasons fill weeks or months in advance. Arrive at the shukubo office before 17:00. Bring towels for the bath; the temple supplies basic toiletries.

Anraku-ji's distinctive convergence — Buddha of Healing, hot spring, shukubo — invites readings from medicine, theology, and embodied practice. Each takes the same physical fact and frames it differently.

The Kūkai-onsen-discovery story follows the 'water-miracle' pattern visible at multiple Shikoku temples and is read as devotional rather than strictly historical. The documented 400-plus years of pilgrim shukubo function under Hachisuka patronage are well attested. Whether the spring antedates Kūkai or was newly developed in his time is undocumented; geothermal continuity across 1,200 years is plausible but has not been rigorously studied.

Shingon teaching emphasizes Yakushi Nyorai's twelve great vows for healing. The temple's identity as Onsenzan Ruri-kō-in deliberately evokes Yakushi's eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli Light, making the bath ritually saturated. To soak at Anraku-ji is, in this reading, to bathe within the precincts of the healing Buddha's domain.

Embodied Buddhism is Shingon's signature: the integration of hot-spring soaking and sutra chanting offers a tangible 'medicine of medicine' (yaku no yaku) — physical heat as a vehicle for the Yakushi blessing. This is Shingon's characteristic stance of working through the body, not against it. Folk-religious traditions of onsen as therapeutic waters predate Buddhism in Japan; Anraku-ji's identity sits inside that older indigenous water-veneration as much as inside Yakushi's Pure Land theology.

Mineral analysis of the current spring and its precise medicinal properties are not always publicly published. The geothermal continuity of the spring across 1,200 years cannot be definitively established. The exact moment when the temple's shukubo function began under Hachisuka patronage is documented to within a few decades but not exactly.

Open daily for day visitors; shukubo accepts overnight bookings year-round. About 5 km west of Jizō-ji. The first practical Day 1 stopping point for most walking henro.

About 5 km west of Jizō-ji; about a 30-minute walk on the henro route. From the closest JR station (Itano), bus or taxi or longer walk. By car, free parking on site. Address: 153 Tokuchō, Hikida, Kamiita-chō, Itano-gun, Tokushima Prefecture.

Shukubo on site. Three wings: Shoin (traditional Japanese tatami), Kōdō (Western-style with beds), and New Wing (mixed). Booking by phone or the temple's official online channels is required, especially in peak henro seasons. The shukubo is the only one on the entire 88-temple route with its own onsen, and it is repeatedly cited in henro accounts as the early-route highlight.

Standard pilgrim etiquette at the halls. Shukubo etiquette is its own register: arrive on time, observe meal and bath schedules, maintain quiet in shared spaces, and respect the evening service.

The Shikoku 88 conventions apply at the formal halls. Bow at the Niōmon. Walk to the side of the central path. Do the chōzuya. Ring the bell once on arrival. Candle, three incense sticks, osamefuda, coin, sutra at each hall. At the shukubo, additional conventions apply. Remove shoes at the entry. Use the indoor slippers provided; switch to the bathroom slippers at the WC and back to indoor slippers afterward. In the dining room, wait for the meal to be set before beginning. At the bath, follow the posted schedule; the bath alternates between men's and women's hours and sometimes provides separate facilities. Wash thoroughly at the wash stations before entering the bath itself. Do not splash, do not submerge towels, do not stay so long you block other guests' rotation. At quiet hours, speak in low voices.

Pilgrim whites are traditional and many henro arrive in them. For dinner and the evening service, indoor wear or yukata (provided in some rooms) is acceptable. At the bath, no clothing or swimwear is worn; the bath is the standard gender-segregated Japanese onsen format. Tattoos may be restricted; check at reception when booking.

Permitted in the open precinct. The Niōmon and the temple grounds are photographic standards. Strictly no photography at the bath area. Inside the halls, observe posted signs; flash is generally discouraged. Do not photograph other guests in the dining room or bath without explicit permission.

At the formal halls: coins, candle, three incense sticks, and an osamefuda. At the shukubo, the booking fee covers room, meals, bath, and evening service; tipping is not customary in Japan. A small donation at the office on departure is welcomed but not expected.

Quiet hours typically begin around 21:00 in the shukubo. Lights-out follows the room's individual rhythm but the public corridors quiet down by then. The bath has gender-segregated hours; switch carefully if you are using a bath with rotating designation. Do not bring outside food into the dining room. Do not photograph the bath.

Nearby sacred places create the location cluster described in the growth plan. This block is intentionally crawlable and links into the wider regional graph.

Jūraku-ji (十楽寺)

Awa, Awa, Tokushima, Japan

1.0 km away

Kumadani-ji (熊谷寺)

Awa, Awa, Tokushima, Japan

4.5 km away

Jizō-ji (地蔵寺)

Itano, Itano, Tokushima, Japan

4.5 km away

Hōrin-ji (法輪寺)

Awa, Awa, Tokushima, Japan

5.2 km away