In this chapter, I discuss how in the post-1945 era the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan has changed from a marginal activity that had almost died out in the mid-twentieth century to becoming Japan’s most high-profile and popular Buddhist pilgrimage, portrayed in the media as Japan’s most ‘traditional’ pilgrimage. This image of tradition has helped it become a candidate, heavily promoted by Shikoku political, tourist, and temple authorities, for UNESCO World Heritage status. Yet even as it has achieved this prominence, pilgrim numbers have started to fall, as they have on other prominent pilgrimages in Japan, while the age profile of the pilgrims is getting older. These issues are a cause for concern to those running the pilgrimage temples and have been a factor in their cooperating with tourist agencies and with political authorities to promote the pilgrimage through the lens of tourism and cultural heritage. In examining these issues, I draw attention to how pilgrimages can fluctuate in terms of popularity, examine strategies being pursued by the temples to deal with the contemporary decline in numbers, and discuss the implications this has for the longer-term future of the Shikoku pilgrimage.