In 718 CE, the monk Tokudō Shōnin died and descended to Emma-ō's court in the underworld. Rather than condemn him, Emma-ō handed him thirty-three sacred seals and sent him back to the living with a charge: establish the Saigoku Pilgrimage so that others might be spared damnation.
The Saigoku Pilgrimage links thirty-three temples across western Japan, each enshrining a different form of Kannon. Pilgrims walk the circuit to receive the bodhisattva's compassion in all its manifestations, earning merit toward rebirth in the Pure Land.
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