This route is called in Japanese the Chichibu Sanjuyon Kasho (秩父三十四箇所), or the "34 places (sacred to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva) in the Chichibu region."
The 34 temples on the Chichibu route bring the three major circuits--this one, along with the Saigoku and the Bando--up to a total of 100 temples. Unlike those other two routes, however, which cover seven prefectures each, this one is limited to a single municipality in a beautiful mountainous valley in Saitama Prefecture to the west of Tokyo. Twenty-five of the 34 temples are in Chichibu City proper; six more are in the neighboring town of Yokoze, two in Obano, and one--the last, #34--in Minano.
"History"
The Saigoku circuit is unquestionably the grand-daddy of them all, and the Bando is a none-too-distant second. Both of these cover large areas, requiring quite a bit of time and expense to cover (and even more so before the development of modern transportation). Pilgrimage in those cases was essentially for the upper classes--or for vagrants.
And so, though some counts vary, it seems that by the end of the Edo Period (1868) over 200 smaller circuits--each still containing 33 temples, but more closely spaced--had developed throughout Japan, bringing religious exercise to the masses. (I have done a portion of one such all the way down in Kyushu, about as far away as you can get from Tokyo and still be in historic Japan; and I did a complete one in Tokyo, the "Edo 33 Kannon Temples.")
From what I can gather, the Chichibu circuit was just one among these many smaller routes. It was located not too far from the large population of Edo (Tokyo), and there was no checkpoint for outbound pilgrims (Edo-period travel required government permission, similar to a passport or visa, if one was going far). It was natural, then, that it would rise to greater popularity than many of the others.
The pilgrimage probably originated not terribly long after the Bando, perhaps in the 13th century. However, sometime before 1536, some (as far as I know) unnamed genius hit upon a scheme: Let's add one more temple to the 33, he thought, making our little pilgrimage the "completion" of 100 temples for those who have already finished the two "majors." (33 Saigoku + 33 Bando + 34 Chichibu = the Nihon Hyakku Kannon--the 100 Kannon Temples of Japan.)
It worked. I have trod many paths in Japan, but the Chichibu is the only one of the shorter circuits I have completed, aside from the Edo route in my "hometown" of Tokyo (though I did that in a terribly haphazard way--see here), and to date the only pilgrimage of more than a few temples that I did entirely on foot. (The Kamakura route is still on my list.)
The pilgrimage begins just outside of "downtown" Chichibu (the city area had an estimated population of 63,358 in 2016, but the density is only 110 people to the square kilometer) and runs through some of the mountains on the east side of town [1-4]. It continues on into Yokoze Town (population 8,470 in 2016; density 172/km2) [5-10] before veering back into Chichibu proper [11-30], this time looping through the actual downtown and out into the southwestern hinterlands. (Number 30 is well apart from town, and some three-and-a-half miles from #29; things start to get pretty spread out from here.) The next two [31 and 32] are in the mountains of Ogano Town (pop. 11,987 in 2016; density 70/km2); #31 is nearly seven miles northwest of #30. The next one [33] is well outside of Chichibu proper, to the west; and the final temple [34] is in Minano Town, with 10,096 people in 2016 (density 158/km2). Incidentally, Tokyo's population density in 2018 was 2,662/km2.
And so, though some counts vary, it seems that by the end of the Edo Period (1868) over 200 smaller circuits--each still containing 33 temples, but more closely spaced--had developed throughout Japan, bringing religious exercise to the masses. (I have done a portion of one such all the way down in Kyushu, about as far away as you can get from Tokyo and still be in historic Japan; and I did a complete one in Tokyo, the "Edo 33 Kannon Temples.")
From what I can gather, the Chichibu circuit was just one among these many smaller routes. It was located not too far from the large population of Edo (Tokyo), and there was no checkpoint for outbound pilgrims (Edo-period travel required government permission, similar to a passport or visa, if one was going far). It was natural, then, that it would rise to greater popularity than many of the others.
The pilgrimage probably originated not terribly long after the Bando, perhaps in the 13th century. However, sometime before 1536, some (as far as I know) unnamed genius hit upon a scheme: Let's add one more temple to the 33, he thought, making our little pilgrimage the "completion" of 100 temples for those who have already finished the two "majors." (33 Saigoku + 33 Bando + 34 Chichibu = the Nihon Hyakku Kannon--the 100 Kannon Temples of Japan.)
It worked. I have trod many paths in Japan, but the Chichibu is the only one of the shorter circuits I have completed, aside from the Edo route in my "hometown" of Tokyo (though I did that in a terribly haphazard way--see here), and to date the only pilgrimage of more than a few temples that I did entirely on foot. (The Kamakura route is still on my list.)
The Route
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| Map adapted from Wikipedia Japan |
The pilgrimage begins just outside of "downtown" Chichibu (the city area had an estimated population of 63,358 in 2016, but the density is only 110 people to the square kilometer) and runs through some of the mountains on the east side of town [1-4]. It continues on into Yokoze Town (population 8,470 in 2016; density 172/km2) [5-10] before veering back into Chichibu proper [11-30], this time looping through the actual downtown and out into the southwestern hinterlands. (Number 30 is well apart from town, and some three-and-a-half miles from #29; things start to get pretty spread out from here.) The next two [31 and 32] are in the mountains of Ogano Town (pop. 11,987 in 2016; density 70/km2); #31 is nearly seven miles northwest of #30. The next one [33] is well outside of Chichibu proper, to the west; and the final temple [34] is in Minano Town, with 10,096 people in 2016 (density 158/km2). Incidentally, Tokyo's population density in 2018 was 2,662/km2.
My Approach
The Chichibu area is a relatively brief (two-hour) train ride from my then-home on the other side of Tokyo, making it more practicable for me to sleep at home every night than to stay in hotels. And, as the entire pilgrimage is about 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, it can easily be walked in a few days. And that is exactly what I did; it is the only pilgrimage that I have walked in its entirety the "old-fashioned way" so far. Again: why does Chichibu boast 34 temples instead of the usual 33? Some say it was to "better" the bigger guys. Others say that, with the one extra, the three pilgrimages together equal 100 temples; indeed, they have come to be known collectively as The Nihon Hyakku Kannon--"the 100 places sacred to Kannon in Japan." The dates and coverage (all in 2001) were:
"Kannon," of course, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, called Guanyin in Chinese and Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit. Each of the 34 temples on the circuit is dedicated to Kannon, with a figure of him/her (it's complicated) on the main altar. You can read more about him/her on the Kannon page [to be added].
Here are the temples in numerical order. Click the linked names [to be added] to see my post about each temple; the "map" link shows the temple's location on Google Maps.
- Temples #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
- Temples #13, 15, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
- Temples #25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
- Temple #31
- Temples #32, 33, 34
"Kannon," of course, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, called Guanyin in Chinese and Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit. Each of the 34 temples on the circuit is dedicated to Kannon, with a figure of him/her (it's complicated) on the main altar. You can read more about him/her on the Kannon page [to be added].
The List
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| Shimpuku-ji, the heavily-"decorated" Temple #2 on the Chichibu Pilgrimage |
Here are the temples in numerical order. Click the linked names [to be added] to see my post about each temple; the "map" link shows the temple's location on Google Maps.
- Shimabu-ji (四万部寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Shimpuku-ji (真福寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Josen-ji (常泉寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Kinsho-ji (金昌寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Choko-ji (Goka-do) (長興寺); Yokoze, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Boku'un-ji (ト雲寺); Yokoze, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Hocho-ji (法長寺); Yokoze, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Saizen-ji (西善寺); Yokoze, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Akechi-ji (明智寺); Yokoze, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Daiji-ji (大慈寺); Yokoze, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Joraku-ji (常楽寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Nosaka-ji (野坂寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 21, 2001
- Jigen-ji (慈眼寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Imamiya-bo (今宮坊); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Shorin-ji (少林寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Saiko-ji (西光寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Jorin-ji (定林寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Godo-ji (神門寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Ryuseki-ji (龍石寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Iwanoue-do (岩ノ上堂); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Kannon-ji (観音寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Doji-do (童子堂); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Ongaku-ji (音楽寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Hosen-ji (法泉寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 23, 2001
- Kyusho-ji (久昌寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 28, 2001
- En'yu-ji (円融寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 28, 2001
- Daien-ji (大淵寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 28, 2001
- Hashidate-do (橋立堂); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 28, 2001
- Chosen-in (長泉院); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 28, 2001
- Houn-ji (法雲寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Saturday, July 28, 2001
- Kannon-in (観音院); Ogano, Saitama (map); visited Sunday, July 29, 2001
- Hosho-ji (法性寺); Ogano, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 30, 2001
- Kikusui-ji (菊水寺); Chichibu, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 30, 2001
- Suisen-ji (水潜寺); Minano, Saitama (map); visited Monday, July 30, 2001
Resources
The Wikipedia article entitled "Chichibu 34 Kannon Sanctuary" has latitude and longitude for each site.
My only guide for these journeys was Sumiko Enbutsu's Chichibu: Japan's Hidden Treasure, published in 1990 (but revised in 1999, and now available on Kindle). I'm sure many other guides are available in English today.
Ms. Enbutsu's guide contains itineraries at the end of each chapter that give travel and visit times. In response to a query in the comments, I have typed them up and uploaded them as a Word document in my Google Drive. You can access them here.
Controls:
My only guide for these journeys was Sumiko Enbutsu's Chichibu: Japan's Hidden Treasure, published in 1990 (but revised in 1999, and now available on Kindle). I'm sure many other guides are available in English today.
Ms. Enbutsu's guide contains itineraries at the end of each chapter that give travel and visit times. In response to a query in the comments, I have typed them up and uploaded them as a Word document in my Google Drive. You can access them here.
Google Map
Controls:
- Use + /- or mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
- Click to close the hand to move around.
- (The two functions above are accomplished with two fingers on mobile devices.)
- Click the square-with-arrow on the left to open or close the index of sites. (Works better if you zoom in first.)
- Click the three-dot thingy to share the map with others.
- Click the "four corners" in the upper right to go to the full map.
Last updated Feb. 17, 2025
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteI'll be in Chichibu in October attempting to visit temples 1-24 in two days, same as you. My chief concern is that the last time I tried something similar - the Shichifukujin Meguri in Kamakura back in December 2017 - I only managed to get halfway before I ran out of light. According to Google Maps, the distance I walked should have taken about an hour, but in reality it took me all day. It also predicts that Chichibu 1-24 should take about four hours' walk a day.
So I wanted to ask, how easy is it actually to do the first twenty-four temples in two days? How early did you start? How fast did you walk? How long did you get to stop at each temple?
Hi, Belthazar.
DeleteI did the walk at the end of July, when the days are quite a bit longer than October. So I think it's going to be a squeeze.
I'm afraid my records from 2001 are pretty crappy. What you see above is about as close as i can get. But Sumiko Enbutsui, in her Chichibu: Japan's Hidden Treasure, gives some fairly solid walking and visiting times. Just for you, I have typed them out as a Word doc, and uploaded them to my Drive. The link has been added above for others to access, too.
Incidentally, I did commute from Tokyo, as she recommends (I was living there at the time). Staying in Chichibu could add quite a bit of walking time to your day.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful! Let me know if you have any problems accessing it, or if there's anything else I can do.
James
Thanks for that info. I actually bought that book on my Kindle a few days ago based on your suggestion, and I did notice her suggested schedule with precise timetable, so I'm thinking perhaps it might be possible for me to follow along with that, and perhaps return at some future date to complete (or at least continue) the route. (And/or stay in one of the many ryokan she suggests.)
DeleteI will be staying in Chichibu, but in my opinion that just means I don't have to get up before dawn for the train - I'd probably still start the walk at about the same time. Maybe a little earlier. =)
Temple Guy, thank you so much for putting together this write up and providing all the information needed to make the pilgrimage. I completed the journey over 5 days (4 hiking and 1 biking) in May/June of 2025 while visiting Japan for the very first time. This is a wonderful way to learn Zen history, explore rural Japan, and have an adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
ReplyDeleteHere are a few 2025 updates that will help you on your journey:
- I stayed in the Hotel Route-Inn Grand Chichibu, which is a very nice hotel with an onsen. I would either walk or take a taxi cab (between $15 and $40) each morning to where I left off the previous day.
- The people in Chichibu are extremely friendly and very welcoming to foreigners. They don’t get a lot of tourism, so they feel flattered that someone chose to spend their vacation exploring their town and heritage. I felt very safe walking throughout the city, even in the poorest parts of town.
- The temples are open from 8am to 5pm, which limits the number you can visit in a day. The cost to sign your book is now 500 yen (~$3.50 per temple).
- My timeline was Day 1: Temples 1-5 (late start), Day 2: 6-14, Day 3: 15-25, Day 4: 26-32 (by bike), Day 5: 33 & 34. I initially planned to hike all the temples in 5 days but was slowed down by heavy rain, a few wrong turns, bad blisters, and a tendency to explore everything along the way. 😊 I rented a bike for Day 4 from the Seibu-Chichibu train stations for 2,000 yen ($14), which gave my feet a rest and allowed me to get back on schedule. I thoroughly enjoyed biking around for the day and found it a great way to go between temples 30 & 31.
- Some of the temples will give you hand drawn maps, which I found confusing and not to scale. I highly recommend downloading the locations provided on this page and navigating by GPS and Google Maps on your phone. Be aware that this will drain your phone battery quickly, so make sure to have a portable battery to recharge. If your phone goes dead, you won’t be able to call a taxi and could have a long hike back to town.
- Early on, the route is not very well marked, making navigation essential. Later in the pilgrimage, the routes are better marked with signs and is a little easier to follow.
- Download the Google Translate app on your phone to be able to read signs along the path and at the temples, and also have conversations with the monks. I found this worked pretty well, despite knowing almost no Japanese. Cell phone service is available at every temple except #34, although coverage does go out intermittently.
- At the end of the day, you can ask the monk at your last temple to call a taxi, which works pretty well. That avoids the language barrier, any confusion about pickup location, and usually only takes 15 minutes.
- There is a wonderful Café just past Temple 8 that I highly recommend stopping for a meal.
- The trail through the woods between temples 10 and 11 is overgrown in one section, making it very difficult to follow the trail. I used Google satellite imagery to identify the old trail and bushwack through the waist-high weeds and shrubs, which were soaking wet from the rain. I was rewarded by the torii’s above temple 11 coming down the hill but it wasn’t worth getting completely soaked. It might be best to avoid this one trail and take the road instead. All other trails through the woods were in good shape.
- After you’ve visited the first twenty or so temples, they can start to feel similar, especially the ones in the city. Don’t be discouraged because temples 26+ have a very unique mountain feel and were the most amazing ones of the trip.
- The hike between temples 33 and 34 is a really nice finish to the pilgrimage. I recommend taking the short detour to the summit of Mt Happu.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Thanks again to the Temple Guy for laying the groundwork and making this trip possible. I wish you the best of luck on your journey and many adventures along the way. -Nick