Akata Kannon Pilgrimage

 

     The Kameda Domain 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized after 1786, when Priest Zezan (1732-1811) built the gold-foiled wooden standing Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue in Chokoku-ji Temple.  Later, Endo Jihei from Hodooka Hamlet, Akata Village, Yuri County (today's Hodooka Akata, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0023), visited the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and brought back the sand of the pilgrimage’s 33 member temples.  Sometime between 1786 and 1789, Zezan and Jihei chose 33 temples in the Kameda Domain and buried the sand from each of the 33 member temples of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage to corresponding precincts.

     The Akata 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was also organized by Zezan and Jihei.  The pilgrimage is carried out annually on September 1st and 2nd.  The pilgrimage route extends for 30 kilometers.