Koyasan

Hi everyone,

Today we caught the JR line two stops, and then hopped on the Nankai line on a limited express train to Koyasan. Unlike Tokyo, Kyoto etc, you’ve likely not heard of Koyasan. It’s a sacred Mountain (also known as Mount Koya) where the Shingon branch of Buddhism was founded by the ‘Father of Japanese Culture’ Kobodaishi in 816. It’s a very sacred place which today has 117 temples, 51 of which are known as shukubos (temple lodgings) that you can stay in as we are. Originally there were 2000 temples at the peak here, but when the Meiji Restoration occurred around 150 years ago, the new government wanted to separate Japan from Buddhism and become more western so many were destroyed. After this time, women were then allowed at Koyasan and many of the buildings and businesses here today were created. Also, a huge fire in 1888 burnt 1300 buildings in one night.

I was recommended to come here by my friends Alisha and Shannon, and then again by my friend Sophie. Both groups said it was a beautiful destination a bit more “off the well beaten track” that was very peaceful, authentic and picturesque. And they were right!

Once we arrived at Gokurabashi station, we caught a cable car (funicular as we would call it) up the very steep hill to Koya Station. The scenery today was beautiful as the skies were very blue and clear. Finally, we caught a bus to nearby our accommodation, again up very steep roads that this time were windy too. Luckily we could check in straight away a bit early. Our temple lodging is called Saizen-in and is fantastic. Our room is very clean and comfortable, and they were so accommodating pregnancy wise. I told them I was pregnant in advance and they gave us double thickness mattresses and a chair for our room and dinner for me so I didn't have to get up off the floor. Also, the grounds are beautiful.

Afterwards, we walked around Koyasan, seeing Kongobu-ji Head Temple just over the road from our accommodation, then having lunch, and then heading to a few other temples en route before catching the bus to Okunoin Cemetery. The name 'Okunoin' means 'deepest temple'. We really enjoyed looking around ourselves in the day time before our night tour this evening. Mum kindly wheeled me around in the public wheelchairs they had at the front gate, as the paths were well paved and overall mostly flat. I've been doing better than I thought walking around, but we've been using lifts, trains etc wherever possible. Not having to walk for this hour around the cemetery in the heat made a big difference and I was very grateful.

Walking around ourselves, we started off in the more modern part of the cemetery where lots of newer graves were. We even noticed companies had put graves in here such as Toyo Tires, Yakult, and even a rocket company for the founder who had passed away. As we progressed, we ended up at the mausoleum of Kobodaishi, and the further towards it we got, the older and mossier the graves were. The lanterns at the hall in front of his mausoleum were beautiful, and we got to walk through the lower levels of the hall and then the main part as well. No photos in there, but it was lovely.

We then got the bus back, showered, and had dinner. We were a bit traumatised by the included dinner in Hakone, but the dinner here at our temple lodging was vegetarian which meant I could just about eat everything, and the food was beautiful. We had the best miso soup we've ever tasted, lots of grilled vegetables, some tofu (some of it actually wasn't bad!) and some noodles. Overall, we really enjoyed it.

Finally, we walked to another temple stay and joined a night tour that my friend Sophie had recommended of the cemetery. It was fantastic, and the cemetery was even more peaceful and mysterious at night compared to the day time. A monk ran our tour, I didn't catch his name, but his story was very interesting. He's German, studied Buddhism for 8-9 years and just over a year ago decided to come to Japan to study it further as it interests him so much. He's now become a monk up here. His English was so clear, and you could tell his passion and enthusiasm straight away.

The cemetery has approximately 200,000 graves on the ground, and about 300,000 more further underground. Hence the translation of the name to 'deepest temple'. Anyone from anywhere in the world can have a grave here which was interesting, as were the Japanese cedar trees that we discovered were 200-800 years old. The monks over the centuries have planted more and more trees so that if there are future fires, they can use the wood up here to rebuild things instead of bringing the wood up. In the past, samurai warriors carried the heavy stones up here to build graves.

We made our way further and further into the cemetery and it got progressively darker. We could see fireflies, hear flying squirrels, and we even saw some stars for the first time all trip. We eventually made our way to the mausoleum again (the hall of which was now closed), but the lanterns surrounding the hall were all lit up and looked absolutely stunning. Hilariously, our guide told us up this way that the sign that said "no smoking", " no phone use", "no photos" also used to have a "no Pokemon Go" sign on it, as Nintendo accidentally added a battle arena here when Pokemon Go was big, so people were coming to the cemetery to race around and collect Pokemon etc! It's now been removed. At the end of our tour, we learned that the red hats and capes we've seen on lots of Buddha statues are because that particular type of Buddha statue is for the protector of children. We also learned that the tours still run in Winter here despite it getting down to -10. Our monk said a prayer at the end and had us all pray, too. In my head I prayed for a Collingwood win and no injuries, and it didn't work on either count....!

Finally, our guide took us onto the bus and ensured we made it back to our lodging before the 9pm curfew/gate locking. We made it with four minutes to spare! on the way back we heard the beautiful gongs at the temple across the road, and lots of frog noises.

Usually I go back and proofread, but after watching that disappointing pies loss and having a big day, I'm not going to today. So hopefully all of this makes sense! In summary - I have loved Koyasan. Well worth adding a night here to your trip if you are coming to Japan, for a totally different experience compared to the cities people typically stick to.

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox