Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei

This film is the extraordinary story of one Tendai monk in Japan who undertakes one of the most difficult and dangerous austerities I have come across, walking on foot round Mount Hiei 1000 times in a pilgrimage spread out over seven years, and covering a total of some 24,000 miles by completion.

Besides this, after completing the first 700 circumambulations, the pilgrim will also undertake a death defying 9-day fast from food and water, which would be enough to kill an ordinary person, who can only survive 5 days without water.

According to the narration at the end of the feat, the monks are looked upon as Living Buddhas, and are fit to pray for Emperor and Country, and they naturally have many followers once the course is complete. Up to the time of this film in 1991 only 6 monks had completed the course since 1945.