The temple was beautiful, but since I'm foreign I got a pretty passive-aggressive note. It says basically "The calligraphy and stamps on the nokyocho book are not a piece of art or for stamp collecting as a hobby. It signifies that you have put your heart into praying to the main Buddha image." I have lived here for a long time and put my heart and soul into the prayers and am very spiritual in my pilgrimage. Just because I'm foreign does not mean that I'm just a typical tourist. The woman at the nokyosho office didn't even attempt to talk with me about why I'm visiting and just gave me this paper with my stamped nokyocho book. Thankfully this was not a typical experience on my 88 temple pilgrimage. Yes, I went to all 88 temples and prayed at every one. This kind of treatment is not conducive to making foreign people feel welcome in Japan and only reinforces the doubts many of us have.

Iwaya-ji temple in Kumakogen mountainous area of Ehime is a popular destination for people doing a pilgrimage - it was so magical & interesting to visit on a rainy day in September and pass by the shops with popular snacks and goods for pilgrims as well as take in the wonderful sights & sounds along this forested path. A lot of the path can be slippery so be careful. The cave at the top & temple built by KUKAI is impressive at the sacred mountain. The dark cave below and the forest crumbling back to earth temple gate at the back is interesting - you'll need a flashlight to see the Nio guardians.

Peaceful temple! About 120m hike to the top! Loved it! 😍

Iwaya-ji or temple 45 is one of the most peaceful and authentic temples I have visited so far. There is a partly steep but nice trail from furusato to the temple. Takes 2 hours and you pass along massive trees and a shrine. The trail finally leads you down to the temple.

Wonderful. A bit long walk up

This place is unbelievable. You must come and see. I visited in the rain and I was still so happy that I came. The temple is built right into the rock face and it is incredible. You can climb a ladder to a platform to get a better view of everything.

Gorgeous mountain temple. Well worth the hike from Temple 44 (about 13km). Hike in, don't drive. Steps will destroy just about any Zen mood. Has pilgrims' quarters on a reservation basis. Climb the ladder! Set out early!

45/88 on the Henro88 shrine pilgrimage. What an amazing temple. It’s quite a twisty trek up to the temple but so worth it. You must see this one…

I enjoyed trekking up to the temple. Amazing majestic mountains and views among the path of slopes. Feels so cool and refreshing wether you are into temples or not. Simply breathtaking.

My favourite temple on the Shikoku 88 route. The view from climbing the ladder is breathtaking and the aura inside the cave is just phenomenonal.