Pilgrim Hut No.48 Kyotsukaan

General Description: Located about 3 km from Onzanji (T18) and less than 1 km before Tatsueji (T19) on the right hand (south) side of prefectural road 136.

Previously in this place, there was an "Okyotsuka" (tsuka/つか memorial mound) enshrining the pilgrim "Okyo" from the Edo period (1603 to 1868), but the site was reincarnated as a Henro hut when it was renovated.

The design concept is “prayer,” and the roof is designed to mimic hands pressed together in prayer (gassho).

The story of Okyo:

Okyo was from Iwami Country (Shimane Prefecture) and is said to have been a geisha in Osaka. She married and ran away with Yosuke. Later she fell in love with a blacksmith named Chozo and together they murdered Yosuke. Okyo and Chozo went on a pilgrimage to Shikoku attempting to hide themselves amongst the true pilgrims. When they arrived at Tatsueji, the long, black hair of Okyo became tangled up with the temple bell rope. When she was finally able to free herself, a length of her hair and some of her scalp remained attached to the bell rope. Taking this as a sign, they confessed their sins and became devout Buddhists and stayed in the area of the temple. Okyo retained her life, but lost her beauty and found her spiritual hometown, living in this area till the end of her lifetime. This was reputedly in the year of Kyōwa 3 (1803).

18/4/2019 Comments:

A small hut set back from highway 136. It has benches around three of its walls. The fourth wall being completely open and facing the road. Privacy would be minimal.

It is in a sheltered area at the foot of a ridge and is good protection against sun and rain and wind except if it blew straight into the open front of the hut, which wouldn’t be common. It is located in a small rural valley just before the built up area of Tatsue, it would be quiet at night but not isolated.

There are no amenities in the immediate locality, but it is only 800m to T19 which is surrounded by a small number of shops and restaurants.

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A group of us left Onzanji, Temple 18, more or less at the same time. There were three Europeans, an American, a Korean and an Australian who had all come together throughout the day. There was also an elderly Japanese gentleman who I thought was going to join us but he disappeared off on his own. Because of the disparate paces, the large group broke up fairly quickly. The young French man, who claimed to be covering about 40km a day, soon left the rest of us in his dust. the American lady and I got confused in the tangled up backstreets of Motomura, but reunited with most of the others once the choices of paths funnelled us all back together again. At the Henro Hut Okyuza, about a kilometre before Tatsueji, four of us sat and rested for a while. The Korean man turned up with some ossetai oranges he had been given as well as some cute drawstring bags he redistributed. I used mine for holding my change from then on.

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Don’s sleep score: 0

This hut is built on the site where a nun lived during the Edo Era. Her hair is preserved in the temple. There's no water, no toilet (don't look in back of the hut!) and houses nearby.

2 photos submitted