My Japan trips

Day 8 April 14 Temple 37 At 6 am, we had sitting meditation in a hall facing east. It was a beautiful morning: I could see the sun rising above the horizon in the far distance. After 10-20 minutes, the warm sunray fell on my head with waves of heat permeating my whole body. What … Continue reading »

Part 3: 14-day Pilgrimage / Retreat in Shikuko (7-20/4/2026) Kobo Daishi and Shikoku Pilgrimage A pilgrimage normally means a long, often challenging journey to a sacred or holy place for spiritual reasons, reflection, or to honour a significant figure or site. It acts as a trans-formative, intentional journey – often on foot- that combines journey … Continue reading »

Part 2: Journey on a 7-day JR West Train Pass (1-7 April) April 1. I began my solo travel by taking a taxi to the Hakata Station (1,800 yen) to board Shinkanshen at 4:45 pm for Okayama. The journey took about an hour and forty-five minutes. I had enough time for a nice bowl of soba before boarding Yakumo, … Continue reading »

This main purpose of this journey was to join a 14-day pilgrimage in Shikoku (7-20/2026) organised by the Plum Village. I decided to take this opportunity to visit some Hidden Christian Sites, an UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising a group of 12 properties in Nagasaki and Kumamoto Prefectures. These churches are unique in the sense that each tells … Continue reading »

After having completed the 88-Temple Pilgrimage last November, I decided to join a pilgrimage to visit 20 sacred sites associated with Kukai, Kobo Daishi (774-835). This 20 sacred site pilgrimage route celebrated its 50 anniversary this year. We had a small group led by MY with 14 participants. covering over 1000km in four days in … Continue reading »

A Gap Week The raison d’etre of my visit to Japan is to join the Shikoku pilgrimage would take place from October 9 – 14. After Hokkaido, I flied to Tokyo, spending two nights in Nikko and three nights in Tokyo before spending a night at the Nikko Hotel at Osaka Kansai Airport to wait … Continue reading »

Why Japan? I have joined a 6-day pilgrimage trip to Shikoku from 9 to 14 October. Hence, instead of returning to Hong Kong after the Northwest Passage, I decide to spend the gap time looking for foliage in Hokkaido. September 21 Sapporo I must be exhausted and managed to sleep on the 12-hour flight to … Continue reading »

Nowadays, I often travel for meeting my family and friends and reunions. This time, a friend would celebrate his 35th birthday on 27 April in Tokyo . As spring is a great time to see flowers in Japan, I took this opportunity to visit a few flower parks before joining my friends in Tokyo, Kamakura … Continue reading »

November 26 Sunday Temples 55- 59 & 61-64 We had a busy day visiting nine temples that are not far apart. They included Temples 55 Nankobo (南光坊) (deity – Daitsu-chisho Butsu); 56 Taisan-ji (泰山寺) (deity – Jizo Bosatsu); 57 Eifuku-ji (栄福寺) (deity – Amida Nyorai) ; 58 Senyu-ji (仙遊寺) (deity – Senju Kannon); 59 Iyo … Continue reading »

November 23 Thursday Temples 37- 40 (4 temples) Today we visited only four temples as they are far apart. We started with Temple 37 Iwamoto-ji (岩本寺) (deity-Fudo Myoo, Kannon Bosatsu, Amida Nyorai, Yakushi Nyorai and Jizo Bosatsu); then drove 82 km to reach Temple 38 Kongofuku-ji (金剛福寺) (deity-Senju Kannon). This is the longest stretch between … Continue reading »