Millennium-old Buddhist pilgrimage now possible by proxy
AFP, November, 2003
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TOKYO (AFP) — For more than 1,000 years devout Japanese Buddhists have trodden a holy path around Shikoku island, but technology is changing tradition, enabling would-be pilgrims to hire proxies or make virtual visits to temples at the click of a mouse.
Several websites offer proxy pilgrimages to the 88 temples in Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four main islands, to rid oneself of worries, wipe away sins or to pray for health and prosperity.
Completion of the arduous, looped route stretching over 1,450 kilometres (900 miles) is also said to release the pilgrim from the cycle of rebirth.
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Established by the wanderings of Buddhist saint Kobo Daishi in the early ninth century, it is one of the two most important pilgrimages in Japan.
On foot it takes about two to three months to complete, at a cost of at least 500,000 yen (4,580 dollars), according to ...
