The 1918 Shikoku Pilgrimage of Takamure Itsue: An English translation of Musume Junreiki - Paperback

by Susan Tennant (Author)

A young woman of 24 set off alone in 1918 to walk the 1400 kilometre pilgrimage route around the island of Shikoku. Her dream of a solitary journey ended when an old man of 73 met early on her journey insisted that he accompany her as servant and protector because he believed that she was an attendant of Kannon Bosatsu. This book is her account of their extraordinary experiences during the five month journey. The 105 newspaper articles that she wrote while making her pilgrimage made her a celebrity in Japan. In later years the woman, Takamure Itsue, became well known in Japan as a poet, intellectual, scholar, historian, feminist and anarchist.

Author Biography

Susan Tennant, a Canadian, lived and taught in Japan for 11 years including 5 years on the island of Shikoku during which time she completed the Shikoku pilgrimage. Because of her love of the pilgrimage she co-wrote a bilingual guide to the pilgrimage temples of Tokushima Prefecture which provided important information for pilgrims. Later, wanting to make Takamure Itsue's account of her pilgrimage available to English speaking readers she translated Musume Junreiki, the compilation of 105 newspaper articles written by Takamure in 1918 as she made her pilgrimage.