Shikoku Pilgrimage - Lessons Learned

In no particular order, these are some of the lessons I learned on this trek that I hope will help you if you decide to do the Shikoku Pilgrimage.  Some of these are unique to Shikoku and some apply to any kind of a trek.

• Follow the henro signs as they often lead to shorter routes or routes off the main roads which are more scenic.  A few times the routes were longer, but that was rare.
• The henro signs also will lead to temple back entries that are shorter and more scenic.
• Start out slower and build up. We followed a preset 50 day itinerary, but in the first week we had a steep hill climb and a 32 and 37km days. If I do it again, I would have added in an extra day and kept our walking to around 20-25km a day.
• The people are what makes this special. The other ohenro-san,  hosts, and random people that give you encouragement and or osettai.
• You really need to know Japanese to get the most from the trip. I was very fortunate that my wife, Sawako, is Japanese who would clue me into important things.  You can still enjoy it without knowing Japanese, but you will miss out on a lot.
• Start at temple 1 in the morning to meet other ohenro-sans immediately.  We did temple 1 in the evening and it was empty.  We really only started meeting other ohenro-sans on the third day.
• The poncho still got wet on the inside from sweat. Bring a pack cover and light raincoat and an umbrella. When it's so humid any poncho is just a sauna.
• Bring lots of extra moleskin for blisters as it's not available in Shikoku. Best alternative I found were Dr Sholls pads in a few stores.
• Be flexible as things will not go as expected.  I got blisters, a big shin splint, and had to have a root canal.  For me this meant switching to public transit for a week or so to deal with these issues. I am sure something will happen on your trek.
• Hope for good weather luck.  You will get rain, it just depends on when you get it. We were very, very fortunate in that only one day we changed our plans to avoid a mountain trail due to rain.  If we had started 1 day earlier we would have had rain on 4 major mountain climbs instead of just one that had an easy road option around it.  This would have made the trip much longer and not as nice with more road walking.
• Ship extra stuff home so you don't int have to carry it.  We did this twice.  First time was extra stuff we brought as this was our first trek, the second time was because we were given or had purchased stuff and did not want to carry it. 
• Keep your pack as light as possible as over 50 days, the weight really makes a difference.
• Plan to end around 1500 each day so you have extra time to talk with the locals.  This worked well for us except for the 37km day where we had so many interactions with locals that we barely made the last temple by 1700 before it closed.
• Be aware, if possible of local events such as Golden Week (major traveling holiday in Japan).  During this week it is very hard to find lodging so you may want to reserve it way in advance.  Sawako planned our trip in advance, but we still had problems with a local event that filled up all the lodging around Kumakogen so we had to walk an extra 5km.
• Certain places like Minshuku Okada are very hard to get reservations at.  Sawako actually made that reservation first and then planned the rest of the trip around it.
• Stay at a few temples just to experience it.  I highly recommend Temple 6, Anrakuji has they have a very nice evening service.
• Be sure to go to Koyasan after completing the Shikoku Trek.  We stayed one night, if I do it again I will stay 2 - 3 nights as there are lots of hikes in that area and it is very pretty.
• Pre-buy some of the gear online instead of waiting and getting it at temple #1.  We got the vest, bag, wagesa, beads, and stamp book before we went. We got the hat and staff at the first temple. Especially get the vest as the one at the temple is all cotton, hard to keep clean, and dry.  This one is much, much better:
• https://ippoippo-do.com/collections/hakui/products/shikoku-pilgrimage-white-vest-with-sleeves-and-printed-phrases-on-the-back-comfortable-and-functional-fabrics
• I would also get the strap and frame for the hat from that company so you do not have to jury rig something like I did:
• https://ippoippo-do.com/collections/sedge-hat-sugegasa-%E8%8F%85%E7%AC%A0
• Stay at Minshukus or Ryokans if you can.  In some areas the only option is a business hotel, but you really miss out on meeting people if that is all you use.