Bandō Sanjūsankasho

The Bandō Sanjūsankasho (坂東三十三箇所) ("The Bandō 33 Kannon Pilgrimage") is a series of 33 Buddhist temples in Eastern Japan sacred to Goddess Kannon. Bandō is the old name for what is now the Kantō region,^[1] used in this case because the temples are all in the Prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Tokyo, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba. As is the case with all such circuits, each location has a rank, and pilgrims believe that visiting them all in order is an act of great religious merit.^[1]

Started by Minamoto no Yoritomo and his son Sanetomo, the Bandō Sanjūsankasho is just one of 70 different Kannon pilgrimage circuits existing in Japan, each including 33 temples because the Goddess is believed to have 33 different manifestations.^[1] Sugimoto-dera in Kamakura is number one, Zushi's Gandenji's is number two, An'yō-in in Kamakura is the number three, the famous Hasedera in Hase number four, and so on. From its beginning at Sugimotodera to its end in Chiba's Nagodera, the circuit is over 1300 km long. Even though women were allowed to pray at individual temples, the circuit was originally reserved to male pilgrims.^[1] Now however most of the pilgrims are women.^[1] Pilgrims leave behind a slip of paper or a sticker as a proof of their visit, and many of these can be seen plastered on temple walls and pillars.^[2]

The 33 temples of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho circuit[]

No.	Temple	Honzon (main image)	Location	Coordinates	Image
1	Sugimoto-dera	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Kamakura, Kanagawa	35°19′21″N 139°34′03″E / 35.322611°N 139.567444°E / 35.322611; 139.567444 (Sugimoto-dera)
2		Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Zushi, Kanagawa	35°18′18″N 139°34′20″E / 35.305056°N 139.572306°E / 35.305056; 139.572306 (Ganden-ji)
3	An'yō-in	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Kamakura, Kanagawa	35°18′51″N 139°33′19″E / 35.314167°N 139.555278°E / 35.314167; 139.555278 (An'yō-in)
4	Hase-dera	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Kamakura, Kanagawa	35°18′45″N 139°31′59″E / 35.3125°N 139.533056°E / 35.3125; 139.533056 (Hase-dera)
5	Shōfuku-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Odawara, Kanagawa	35°16′48″N 139°09′52″E / 35.280028°N 139.164333°E / 35.280028; 139.164333 (Shōfuku-ji)
6	Hase-dera	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Atsugi, Kanagawa	35°28′18″N 139°18′14″E / 35.471611°N 139.303833°E / 35.471611; 139.303833 (Hase-dera (Iiyama Kannon))
7	Kōmyō-ji	Shō Kannon (Aryavalokitesvara)	Hiratsuka, Kanagawa	35°21′32″N 139°17′20″E / 35.35875°N 139.288778°E / 35.35875; 139.288778 (Kōmyō-ji)
8	Shōkoku-ji	Shō Kannon (Aryavalokitesvara)	Zama, Kanagawa	35°29′06″N 139°23′56″E / 35.484889°N 139.398889°E / 35.484889; 139.398889 (Shōkoku-ji)
9	Jikō-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja Sahasra-netra)	Tokigawa, Saitama	36°00′39″N 139°13′48″E / 36.010944°N 139.229889°E / 36.010944; 139.229889 (Jikō-ji)
10	Shōbō-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Higashimatsuyama, Saitama	36°00′05″N 139°21′44″E / 36.001389°N 139.362361°E / 36.001389; 139.362361 (Shōbō-ji)
11	Anraku-ji	Shō Kannon (Aryavalokitesvara)	Yoshimi, Saitama	36°03′16″N 139°26′18″E / 36.054333°N 139.438278°E / 36.054333; 139.438278 (Anraku-ji)
12	Jion-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Saitama, Saitama	35°58′46″N 139°42′39″E / 35.979444°N 139.710778°E / 35.979444; 139.710778 (Jion-ji)
13	Sensō-ji	Shō Kannon (Aryavalokitesvara)	Asakusa, Tokyo	35°42′53″N 139°47′48″E / 35.714722°N 139.79675°E / 35.714722; 139.79675 (Sensō-ji)
14	Gumyō-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Yokohama, Kanagawa	35°25′27″N 139°35′51″E / 35.424167°N 139.597417°E / 35.424167; 139.597417 (Gumyō-ji)
15	Chōkoku-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Takasaki, Gunma	36°23′07″N 138°55′58″E / 36.385278°N 138.932639°E / 36.385278; 138.932639 (Chōkoku-ji)
16	Mizusawa-dera	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Shibukawa, Gunma	36°28′46″N 138°56′43″E / 36.479333°N 138.945278°E / 36.479333; 138.945278 (Mizusawa-dera)
17	Mangan-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Tochigi, Tochigi	36°28′32″N 139°35′21″E / 36.475528°N 139.58925°E / 36.475528; 139.58925 (Mangan-ji)
18	Chūzen-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Nikkō, Tochigi	36°43′51″N 139°29′30″E / 36.730917°N 139.491667°E / 36.730917; 139.491667 (Chūzen-ji)
19	Ōya-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Utsunomiya, Tochigi	36°35′46″N 139°49′15″E / 36.596222°N 139.820917°E / 36.596222; 139.820917 (Ōya-ji)
20	Saimyō-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Mashiko, Tochigi	36°27′10″N 140°07′02″E / 36.452778°N 140.117361°E / 36.452778; 140.117361 (Saimyō-ji)
21	Nichirin-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Daigo, Ibaraki	36°55′16″N 140°16′25″E / 36.921194°N 140.273722°E / 36.921194; 140.273722 (Nichirin-ji)
22	Satake-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Hitachiōta, Ibaraki	36°31′34″N 140°30′17″E / 36.526028°N 140.504667°E / 36.526028; 140.504667 (Satake-ji)
23	Shōfuku-ji	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja Sahasra-netra)	Kasama, Ibaraki	36°23′11″N 140°15′35″E / 36.386306°N 140.259611°E / 36.386306; 140.259611 (Shōfuku-ji)
24	Rakuhō-ji (楽法寺)	Enmei Kannon	Sakuragawa, Ibaraki	36°19′51″N 140°07′15″E / 36.330833°N 140.120833°E / 36.330833; 140.120833 (Rakuhō-ji)
25	Ōmi-dō	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Tsukuba, Ibaraki	36°12′46″N 140°05′58″E / 36.212639°N 140.099417°E / 36.212639; 140.099417 (Ōmi-dō)
26	Kiyotaki-ji (清滝寺)	Shō Kannon (Aryavalokitesvara)	Tsuchiura, Ibaraki	36°09′55″N 140°10′02″E / 36.165194°N 140.167361°E / 36.165194; 140.167361 (Kiyotaki-ji)
27	Enpuku-ji (円福寺)	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Chōshi, Chiba	35°43′55″N 140°50′26″E / 35.731944°N 140.840611°E / 35.731944; 140.840611 (Enpuku-ji)
28	Ryūshō-in	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Narita, Chiba	35°52′01″N 140°20′31″E / 35.867083°N 140.341944°E / 35.867083; 140.341944 (Ryushō-in)
29	Chiba-dera	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Chiba	35°35′43″N 140°07′54″E / 35.595139°N 140.131694°E / 35.595139; 140.131694 (Chiba-dera)
30	Kōzō-ji	Shō Kannon (Aryavalokitesvara)	Kisarazu, Chiba	35°20′20″N 139°59′40″E / 35.338806°N 139.994444°E / 35.338806; 139.994444 (Kōzō-ji)
31	Kasamori-ji	Jūichimen Kannon (Ekādaśamukha)	Chōnan, Chiba	35°23′59″N 140°11′56″E / 35.399611°N 140.198917°E / 35.399611; 140.198917 (Kasamori-ji)
32	Kiyomizu-dera	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Isumi, Chiba	35°17′25″N 140°21′23″E / 35.290139°N 140.356333°E / 35.290139; 140.356333 (Kiyomizu-dera)
33	Nago-dera	Senju Kannon (Sahasra-bhuja)	Tateyama, Chiba	35°01′32″N 139°51′29″E / 35.025556°N 139.857972°E / 35.025556; 139.857972 (Nago-dera)

See also[]

• Japan 100 Kannon, pilgrimage composed of the Saigoku, Bandō and Chichibu pilgrimages.
  • Saigoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kansai region.
  • Chichibu 34 Kannon, pilgrimage in Saitama Prefecture.
• Shikoku Pilgrimage, 88 Temple pilgrimage in the Shikoku island.
• Chūgoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Chūgoku region.
• Kannon
• Buddhism in Japan
• Tourism in Japan
• For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism.

Notes[]

References[]

• Donald Richie. Pilgrimage for the 21st century accessed on April 17, 2008 (in English)
• Iso Mutsu. Kamakura: Fact and Legend', Tuttle Publishing (1995/06) ISBN 0-8048-1968-8 (in English)

External links[]

• The Circuit's site (in Japanese)