Kako County Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

 

The date of compilation of Harima no Kuni Fudoki, which lists Kako County, but it must have been around 715.  Although the county is very old, the Kako County Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized quite new.  The origins of the Kako County Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage (est. 1922) are shrouded in mystery, with no record of its founders. However, its simultaneous creation alongside the local Saigoku and Chichibu routes suggests a deliberate, coordinated effort. Let’s see how the organizers gathered another set of 33 Kannon temples in a small county.