Wakayama 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

     The Wakayama 33 Kannon Pilgrimage temples are distributed within the center of Wakayama City.

     It is unknown when the pilgrimage was organized.

     It is recorded that #1 Kosho-ji Temple was founded in 1612, #2 in 1615, #5 in 1624, #6 in 1615, #7 in 1600, #8 in 1829, #9 in 1691, #10 in 1621, #11 in 1508, #15 in 1616, #16 in 814, and #31 in 1572.

     If no temple had ever been replaced, the pilgrimage could not have been organized before 1829.  From the second half of the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century, popular culture flourished.  For example, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) printed thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji in 1829.  The pilgrimage could have been organized in the first half of the 19th century.

     After the restoration of royal rule in 1867, however, we had the movement to abolish Buddhism early in the Meiji Period.  Once the movement ceased, some temples tried to organize new 33 Kannon Pilgrimages to survive.  The pilgrimage might have been organized those days.