Sanuki (modern Kagawa Prefecture) was a “middle distance” exile site, host to two of Japan’s most contrasting figures: Emperor Sutoku, defeated in the 1156 Hogen Rebellion and confined for 9 years until his death — becoming the most feared of the three great onryo through his reported curse “I shall become the great demon of Japan”; and Honen, the 75-year-old founder of Pure Land Buddhism, exiled here in 1207 during the Kennei Persecution and continuing to teach the nembutsu to local people. The juxtaposition of Sutoku’s curse and Honen’s salvation gives Sanuki a unique religious-historical depth. The Shiramine Imperial Tomb survives near the Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage’s 81st temple, while Shiramine Jingu in Kyoto was built in 1868 to formally pacify Sutoku’s spirit before Emperor Meiji’s enthronement.