In Japan, depending on local customs, the most important observances after death are on 7th day ('shonanoka' 初七日) and day 49 ('shijūkunichi' 四十九日), when mourning finishes with the interment of ashes ('nōkotsu' 納骨).

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Byōdō-ji, affectionately known as Inaba-dō (因幡堂), was likely established by Tachibana-no-Yukihira (橘行平 'Governor of Inaba') in 1003 after he recovered from a serious illness (in 997).
The 'medicine buddha', Yakushi Nyorai (薬師如来), oversees day 77.

Miroku Bosatsu (弥勒菩薩), the 'future buddha', welcomes the dead on day 67.
Once a funeral ground for the nobility, it's said the temple was founded by Kūkai in 807 after he met the deity Kumano Gongen in the ancient wisteria woods here.

In 852 he cut down a cherry tree on Mt Kohata (木幡山) and created 6 statues based on Jizō's likeness.

Daizen-ji is birthplace of the Roku Jizō (六地蔵) faith.
It's likely the first temple here, Hōun-ji (法雲寺), was founded in memory of Jōe (定慧 - son of Fujiwara-no-Kamatari) in 705.
Unsurprisingly, it's Jizō that watches over the dead on the 57th day.

Fugen (普賢菩薩), bodhisattva of universal goodness, virtue, and worthiness, acts as guardian of the dead on the 47th day.
Kōgimon'in (広義門院) created Daikōmyō-ji out of Fushimi Palace in 1339 in honour of her late 'husband' Emperor Go-Fushimi.
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Reiun-in, a sub-temple of Tōfuku-ji (東福寺), was originally opened in 1390 by the 80th head, Giyō Hōshū (岐陽方秀 1361-1424), as a private retreat for abbots.
Monju Bosatsu (文殊菩薩), bodhisattva of wisdom, resides over memorials for the dead on day 37.

Buddha (釈迦如来 'Shaka Nyorai') guards the dead on the 27th day (二十七日).
Minamoto-no-Tōru (源融 822-95), one of the inspirations for Murasaki Shikibu's 'Genji', asked that his villa be turned into a temple after death. It would become Seiryō-ji.
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The 33 year pilgrimage begins under the watchful eye of Fudō Myōō (不動明王) at Chishaku-in (智積院), 7 days after death.
The temple (reestablished in 1601) traces its origins to a centre of study created at Negoro-ji (根来寺), Wakayama, in 1392.
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-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1803.
Trans. David Lanoue.

Particularly important to the (esoteric) Shingon sect, this uniquely Japanese grouping likely came from a similar idea in China centred around '10 kings of the underworld' (十王 'jū-ō').

The first service is held on the 7th day following death, then the 27th, 37th, 47th and so on. The 'pilgrimage' ends 33 years after it began.

Memorial services would be held at these temples on specific days after a person's death.
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Described in 1444, the current form of the pilgrimage likely appeared in the Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代).