Hikikomori is the Japanese term used to refer to shut-ins, individuals who have withdrawn from educational, professional, and social life. Entirely dependent on others, usually family members, to put a roof over their head, clothes on their back, and food in their stomach, hikikomori are often described as a modern social issue, but one organization thinks there may be a way to help them that’s over 1,000 years old. The Shikoku Pilgrimage, or Shikoku Henro, as it’s called in Japanese, is a circuit around Japan’s island of Shikoku, stopping at temples with connections to Kukai, Japan’s most famous traveling Buddhist monk.
There are a total of 88 sites on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, and for roughly 1,200 years since Kukai’s time pilgrims have been tracing his steps around Shikoku. ▼ The Shikoku Pilgrimage route Those looking for the most authentic experience do the pilgrimage on foot, which takes several weeks to complete. That’s not something that most people can fit into their work or school schedules nowadays, but that’s not an issue for hikikomori, which is why New Start, a Chiba Prefecture-based organization for helping hikikomori reach greater independence, is organizing a Shikoku Hikikomori Pilgrimage.
▼ “A journey to find how you want to live your life – Hikikomori Pilgrimage” In speaking with shut-ins, New Start noticed that a number of them said that they’d like to go outside their homes and make connections with other people but didn’t feel li.