Horikoshi

Just after dawn I crossed the isthmus into the fishing village of Horikoshi. In the middle of the island the mountains were still draped in clouds.

On the waterfront a small hokora, wayside shrine, with a recent offering of sake.

Like many fishing villages the houses had their backs turned to the sea. No windows looking out that way, just an expanse of dark, weathered wood with occasional doorways.

Up the hillside at the edge of the community I found what I was looking for, Horikoshi-an, temple number 5 on the Shodshima pilgrimage, a simple hermitage located right next to the village shrine.

From here the pilgrimage path heads up into the higher parts of the small peninsula down towards the next temple.