. . Pilgrims make virtual visits to temples AFP / Thu, 27 Nov 2003For more than 1000 years devout Japanese Buddhists have trodden a holy path around Shikoku island, but technology is changing tradition, enabling would-be pilgrims to hire proxies or make virtual visits to temples at the click of a mouse.
Several websites offer proxy pilgrimages to the 88 temples in Shikoku...charges 137,000yen for a pilgrimage that yields a fully stamped white hanten, 149,000yen for one with a book of temple stamps and 179,000yen for the scroll version.
Those who cannot afford the proxy pilgrimage can turn to the virtual world.
The "Ohenro-san (Pilgrims) Game" was launched in April by consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Pin Change Co. Ltd. Scenes of the 88 temples roll by on a television screen as you walk on a treadmill or push the buttons on a Nintendo GameCube console.
