For Camino veterans who are considering branching out, not just beyond Spain but beyond Europe entirely, Japan has emerged as the easy entry-point. The Kumano Kodo is super accessible, thanks to Kumano Travel and its compact route length. If you've got more time, though--probably in the six-week range--Shikoku is the most prominent pilgrimage route in Japan. And Ian Reader, author of Making Pilgrimages: Meaning and Practice in Shikoku and Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku, is one of the foremost authorities writing in English about Japanese pilgrimage generally and Shikoku specifically. In this episode, we explore the religious underpinnings of Japanese pilgrimage, distinct practices along the Shikoku circuit, and the phenomenon of perpetual pilgrims around the island. 

Ian Reader's Amazon author page: https://tinyurl.com/ianreader

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