Shikoku
I cruised Shikoku before. It was 21 years ago, by bicycle. I am doing it again, by boat.
This is what I wrote after my first adventure in Shikoku.
Shikoku
A sleepy guard against the Pacific's fury
Awakened by clanging bells of wandering
Aged pilgrims in a labyrinth of ancient patch.
Oh Shikoku where sea and soul meet
Shikoku is the smallest of Japan's four main islands. Standing like a gargantuan breakwater off western Honshu, the island looks as if someone gripped a ball of dough, forming two bulges at either end. It is divided down the middle, east to west, by a mountain range.
Pilgrims have come to Shikoku for centuries to take on the famous 88-temple pilgrimage. The purists do it on foot taking the better part of four months while others can do it in three days, by coach or car. Kukai (AD 774 - 835) a Buddhist monk, and a son of Shikoku, made the pilgrimage famous. He is now known by the post-humous name, Kobo Daishi. He travelled to China in AD 805, searching for enlightenment then returned to Japan three years later to found the Shingon Sect.
This time, I am cruising the same direction as the pilgrims . . clockwise, where as twenty years ago, I met them head on leaning into the wind while the wind was at my back
Of all the islands I have cycled, I was never more conscious of the sea as I was in Shikoku. Now I am viewing her shores from onboard Wahine. Spectacular!
Pacific Solo is really a misnomer. I have only gotten this far because of the community that has formed around the Pacific Solo idea. I am humbled, not only by the sea but, by the generosity and love of others.
Below are the various ways you can support Pacific Solo, both financially and just good ol' moral support.
