Photo/Illutration David Moreton with the white robe worn by Alfred Bohner, one of the first non-Japanese who went on the Shikoku pilgrimage before World War II, in Tokushima (Tsukasa Fuke)

TOKUSHIMA—David Moreton has for years served as a messenger of the cultural appeal of a Buddhist pilgrimage of 88 temples across the island of Shikoku.

A historian from Canada, Moreton has researched the tradition for 26 years, partly as an associate professor at Tokushima University, and guided foreign visitors along the route.

The 56-year-old has long been engaged in the translation of “Shikoku Japan 88 Route Guide,” known as a must-have English-language guidebook.

Moreton, who first arrived in Japan in 1988, obtained Japanese citizenship and took on the Japanese name Joji 12 years ago. The name, inspired by his nickname George, is written with two kanji. One means “always” and the other “cherish.”

The 1,400-kilometer route connects sacred sites associated with Kukai (774-835), the monk who founded the Shingon sect of Buddhism and is known posthumously as Kobo Daishi.

Moreton said he was particularly attracted by the custom known as “osettai” (hospitality) of residents providing pilgrims with food and beverages as well as giving them a ride when needed.

A similar custom exists along the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but is not as active as in Shikoku, according to Moreton.

“The osettai of the Shikoku pilgrimage is based on faith in Kobo Daishi, and residents equate pilgrims to the grand master of Buddhist teaching,” he said.

Moreton always tries to explain the weight of the pilgrimage’s history to foreign visitors and sometimes shows historical materials he has gathered over the years of research.

The collection includes a white robe worn by Alfred Bohner (1894-1958), one of the first non-Japanese who embarked on the pilgrimage and made its attractions known in Europe.

The German national, who served as a professor at what is now Ehime University, published a book about the pilgrimage, “Two on a Pilgrimage: The 88 Holy Places of Shikoku,” in his native language in 1931.

Moreton became acquainted with Bohner’s eldest daughter through a Swiss couple he met in Tokushima while they were on the pilgrimage.

When she passed away at the age of 93 in 2016, relatives entrusted him with Bohner’s personal effects in the hope that he would hand down the forerunner’s story. The robe, a box to store votive tablets and a string of beads were among the items.

The white robe is covered by red seals its owner received at the temples he visited along the way.

“I was surprised,” Moreton said. “This is probably one of the oldest historical materials that bear testimony to the history of foreign pilgrims.”

Some relatives of Bohner and Moreton had less pleasant associations with Japan.

Bohner’s elder brother was captured by Japanese during World War I and placed in the Bando prisoner-of-war camp in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture.

During World War II, Moreton’s grandfather was taken as a POW by Japan and mobilized for construction of a railway between Thailand and Burma, now Myanmar.

Last spring, Moreton became manager of the Tourism Strategies Office and Planning Department of Air Travel Tokushima Inc., a local travel agency.

“I wanted to share more attractions of the Shikoku pilgrimage and Tokushima with non-Japanese,” said Moreton, who lives in the capital of Tokushima Prefecture.

Moreton is determined to carry on Bohner’s journey.

“Once you put on a white robe, you will be treated as an equal pilgrim, regardless of your nationality, religion or social status,” he said.