[MAP - JAPAN] Saigoku Sanjusan-sho junrei ezu. [i.e. Map of Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage Routes]. Published by Ezuya Shohachi
SAIGOKU SANJUSAN-SHO MAP, Ezuya Shohachi, Tokyô, 1849.
Original woodblock print map on thin paper. 66x59,5 cm. In Japanese.
Rare Japanese woodblock print route map of the Saigoku Sanjusan-Sho (The Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage) which is a pilgrimage of thirty-three Buddhist temples and the oldest Kannon pilgrimage in Japan and said to have been devised in 718 by the head priest known as Tokudo Shonin, who was a head priest at Hase-dera Temple in the Nara prefecture, throughout the Kansai region of Japan, similar to the Shikoku Pilgrimage, printed in early 19th century. In addition to the official thirty-three temples, there are an additional three known as Bangai. The principal image in each temple is Kannon, known to Westerners as the Bodhisattva of Compassion (or sometimes mistranslated as 'Goddess of Mercy'); however, there is some variation among the images and the powers they possess.
33 temples of the pilgrimage are marked and shown on the map and listed in a panel on the lower left located in Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, and surrounding areas.