Virtual Kako County Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14

 

The Missing 14th Station of the Kako County Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

     Virtually no records exist regarding the 14th station of the Kako County Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage; its official name, history, and exact whereabouts remain entirely unknown. However, judging from the geographical sequence of the pilgrimage route, it most likely stood within the historic village of Kako Shinmura, positioned somewhere between the 13th and 15th stations.

     Based on this routing, two primary hypotheses emerge. The most compelling candidate is the Kannon-do Hall located in the Sanshiken'ya area. Alternatively, it is plausible that the 14th station was once situated in what has now become Nakashinden Fureai Park, given that Nakashinden Hamlet sat directly between Kitashinden and Hachiken’ya Hamlets.

     While the exact founding date of the Kannon-do Hall in Sanshiken’ya Hamlet (historically within Kako Shinmura, Kako County, Harima Province) is lost to time, the hall famously enshrines a statue of the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

Kannon-do Hall

Address: 3063 Kako, Inami, Kako District, Hyogo 675-1105

Sanshiken'ya Community Center

Address: 3040 Kako, Inami, Kako District, Hyogo 675-1105

Nakashinden Fureai Park

Address: Kako, Inami, Kako District, Hyogo 675-1105

Bochi (the village cemetery)

Address: Kako, Inami, Kako District, Hyogo 675-1105