Koyasan is similar to Mecca and Jerusalem in that devout Japanese Buddhists will make the journey from all over the country to come pay their respects. In the old days, pilgrims would come in on foot, using one of the many trails leading up to the mountain. Nowadays, Koyasan is relatively easy to access through a couple of train transfers. Following the train ride to the foot of the peak is a short five minute cable car ride to the top, going up a steep fifty degree incline, and then a bus ride into town.
Daimon, the former main entrance to Koyasan
We found that Koyasan the town was not quite as remote and isolated as we expected. Many giant tour buses clogged up the narrow streets, and there were countless restaurants and souvenir shops wherever we looked. There were also many temples all over the town. It turns out all of the temples were operating as hotels, similar to the temple we were staying at. They are staffed by resident monks who also conduct morning ceremonies open to guests staying at the temple.
Night view of the temple we stayed at
We didn’t wake up early enough for the morning ceremonies, but we did have a special vegetarian dinner and breakfast at the temple. The meals were served on a long table which we shared with all the other guests staying at our temple. Each person got a box containing multiple small dishes, ranging from tofu to miso soup to stone pot vegetables. The meals contained no meat and were extremely healthy, but we all agreed that they were very delicious and satisfying.
Group dinner prepared by the monks
The temple facilities themselves were very unique compared to anything outside of Japan. You took off your shoes before entering the temple, and the entire building consisted of wooden hallways, rooms lined with tatami mats, and a public bath containing very hot water. The guest rooms included mattresses rolled out directly on the tatami mats, a space heater (night was bone-chilling cold), and surprisingly fast internet. Overall the rooms were very comfortable, and I’m almost starting to prefer tatami mat beds over traditional western mattresses.
The main attraction we went to outside of the temple was the Okunoin, a stone path surrounded by tombstones that led up to a massive Buddhist temple. Most of the tombstones were small, just made for normal families who happened to be able to afford it. As we went higher up the path, we encountered some tombstones dedicated to more well known historical figures, including the famous Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga’s tombstone was much larger than the individual family tombs, but still quite modest looking considering his role in history.
Oda Nobunaga's tombstone
The temple at the top was evidently the main destination for Japanes Buddhist pilgrims, as we had the opportunity to witness a group at the temple performing of the mountain was very large, though more impressive was the number of lanterns hanging in one of the main buildings. The lanterns all contained writing on them, indicating who had made the donation and a short message from the donor. They were also all numbered, which was how we deduced that there were at least 9000 lanterns in the building. Fortunately someone had decided to replace the candles in the lanterns with lightbulbs to avoid the whole temple burning down like it had multiple times in the past.
Koyasan was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the cities, even with all the other tourists around the sightseeing points. For the last part of our journey, we will return to the big cities. We’re currently on a train (several trains, actually) out of Koyasan and into Osaka, where we will stay one day and night before returning to Tokyo.
- MC 4/17
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