The Biggest Statue of Kobo Daishi

As you head down the coast road towards Cape Muroto in the diatance you can see a white statue on the hillside. This is above Raieeiji Temple and is not part of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, but the statue is of the legendary founder of the pilgrimage, Kobo Daishi.

As a young man Kobo Daishi came here and practised austerities in a cave on the seashore, and te statue represents him as at that age.

The statue  was completed in the 1980's and stands 21 meters tall including its pedestal. Right behind it is another largish statue, of the reclining Buddha, or sometimes known as Buddha entering Nirvarna. There are a few recling buddha statues in Japan though it is not as widely seen as in many other East Asian countries, and this one is claimed to be the first gilded one.

The climb up to view the statues is worth it for the great views.

Married Rocks of Muroto

Heading down the coast road towards Cape Muroto is a familar site to anyne who has walked or cycled the Shikoku Pilgrimage known as Ohenro. As you approach the cape a group of towering rocks becomes visible.

Once there you see that a pair of these rock pillars has a shimenawa, sacred rope, strung between them. These roks are known as Meoto Iwa, or "married rocks". The larger rock is considered male and the smaller, female. They are one of the attractions of the UNESCO Global Geopark of Muroto Cape

Meoto Iwa appear at numerous places around the coast of Japan, and I must have seen half a dozen around the western part of the country, but the most famous ones are on the coast of Mie not too far from the shrine at Ise.

To Cape Muroto Day 12 Walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage

From Temple 23, Yakuoji, to temple 24, Hotsumisakiji, on the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage it is more than 80k, and is they first of the long distances between temples. For most pilgrims who do it by tour bus or car it is just a couple of hours, but for those walking it is usually 3 days.

The second half of this route is fairly uninhabited with long stretches of road with the sea on one side and mountains on the other. There are a few small settlements and a few small shrines and such, but it is a nice long stretch with nothing but traffic for company.

I i9magine that if the weather is not so good then maybe it is not so enjoyable, but when I walked it the weather was fine, the road was flat, and the views good.

At lunchtime I disturbed a troop of monkeys feeding the trees at the side of the road... I guess about 20 to 30 of them.....