熊野古道
I'm soon to go on a Japanese Pilgrimage, so this book looked interesting. Indeed, I found it fascinating, although rather more about the way stories accrete over time and less about an actual pilgrimage. Here, there are layers of cautionary tales as a cast of characters plod over mountains and through valleys in a large circle, where it is hard to distinguish who is from deep history and who is more recent. The book was published in 1984 and it will be interesting to see how dated it is.

Legends have a way of procreating, but I cannot help but feeling that here at Saba Daishi is a modern and self-conscious case of borrowing. p.166

. For a Picador, I was surprised to encounter so many typos

e.g. It did not use to be easy. p.226

In 1918, Takamure Itsue set out on pilgrimage at 24, looking for a way to live. She made the following resolutions (p.273-74):

1. *to accept whatever happened, however unexpected, without anxiety
   
2. *to ask for my needs in a straightforward manner
   
3. *if my request for lodging or for food was refused, to leave immediately
   
4. *not to cling to life tenaciously

All seem like worthwhile resolutions to me.

The pilgrimage is ascetic exercise for the layman. Its essence lies in the physical, mental, and spiritual demands made by the henro, and the physical, mental, and spiritual rewards that accrue. p.298.

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