One of the renowned "three most important replicas of the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan," the town of Sasaguri 篠栗, located in Northeast Kyushu, attracts more than 200,000 pilgrims annually. Established in 1835 following the wish of a mysterious wandering ascetic, the nun Jinin慈忍, it quickly became a local sacred place and a center of the Kōbō Daishi faith 弘法大師信仰for those who could not afford to travel to Shikoku Reijyō四国霊場. Nowadays, it is known as a place where wishes are realized, and it has earned a reputation as a "power spot." Its convenient location, less than 20 minutes by rapid train from the center of Fukuoka; natural environment; and the dynamic nature of its religious atmosphere attract many pilgrims and tourists as well as a variety of ascetic practitioners and religious specialists. The 88 replicas of Shikoku's small pilgrimage sites, fudasho 札所; the small temples and local shrines that came with it; religious figures from numerous small statues to the gigantic "Enlightenment Buddha" of the famous Nanzō-in temple南蔵院; and the presence of ascetic practitioners called gyōjya行者, spirit mediums called reinōsha 霊能者—who have psychic powers and can grant wishes—and oracles called ogamiyasan 拝み屋さんcreate a distinct atmosphere that adds to Sasaguri's success.
Shugendō修験道, or mountain ascetism, played an important role in the development of Sasaguri as a sacred place, since most of the temple's founders were wandering ascetics with an ambiguous status in institutional Buddhism but with efficient ritual skills and charisma. Arriving from outside town, these religious specialists hugely impacted the locality, proving themselves to be an "external power" that contributed to shaping Sasaguri as a popular pilgrimage destination with the help of the locals who developed an impulse to transform the town. Alongside its overture to external influences, Sasaguri also showed a formidable ability to adapt to social changes. The exchanges between associations of pilgrims and Sasaguri inhabitants during the pilgrimage's seasonal peaks in spring and fall, such as the custom of settai 接待 (offerings of food, money, or shelter from locals to pilgrims), developed rapidly. Visiting Sasaguri enabled pilgrims to temporarily distance themselves from the mundane world, wash themselves from social or personal problems and ritual impurity, and have a leisurely experience.
In this paper, I examine a case study of people who visit Sasaguri to perform religious austerities. These people are referred to as ascetic practitioners or gyōja 行者. Some of their followers believe that they possess spiritual abilities or reikan 霊感. Alone or in a group, they practice traditional ascetism such as the waterfall austerity, takigyō滝行. For them, Sasaguri is more than a replica of Shikoku; it is an ascetic practice site, gyōba 行場, with its own appeal, as proven by the importance of the ancient shugendō center on Mount Wakasugi若杉山and the cave temple Oku no In 奥の院on its summit, which is regularly visited by pilgrims even though it is not one of the 88 official sacred sites of the pilgrimage. Today, city dwellers from Fukuoka City increasingly consider Sasaguri and Wakasugi as hiking spots. However, people still visit the waterfall of Yōrō no Taki 養老の滝, halfway to the summit, to perform religious austerities. At the same time, Wakasugi's mountain forest attracts people seeking untouched nature. Many diviners, yoga teachers, and other persons interested in "spiritual" activities visit Sasaguri to receive "natural energy." Organizers of pilgrimage sites or fudasho札所and local members of temple organizations arrange one-day itineraries for easily accessible "pilgrimage experiences." Furthermore, the government "Forest Therapy" program was developed in Sasaguri, adapting to the locality by creating original religious and spiritual content. New religious activities such as Forest Therapy at Sasaguri and pilgrimage experiences might appear similar to the "religious experience practices" 体験修行proposed by Hasebe Ichirō. However, in Sasaguri's case, modernized spiritual practitioners are encountered in the same places as the more "traditional" ones, and they mostly follow the same patterns of practice. In this sense, Sasaguri is a "contact zone" between the internal and external worlds within the context of the local society that coexists in a newly created situation; this also explains its everlasting appeal. Thus, Sasaguri's particular status permits a rethinking of the relationship between religion and modernity.
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