Travelation Inspiration: Japan 5: Mount Koya

Here's the thing. The one thing to take away from this entire experience. The one thing to see in Japan, if nothing else. Mount Koya.

Okonoin Cemetery

Sunday, April 6

Now that I've talked it up, let me explain. I've been to Japan three times. I've seen Hokkaido, Kyushu, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Nara, and now also the Hida region. And then there's Koyasan, a tranquil, historic, embodiment of Buddhist Japanese culture. It is best to stay overnight to visit Koyasan, mainly because it takes over 2 hours to get there, but also because sleeping in a monastery is a worthwhile experience, and we got the best views of Okonoin cemetery during an evening walk.

We packed an overnight bag and left most of our belongings in Kyoto for the night. We left Kyoto early, travelling to Koyasan via Osaka. We got held up in Osaka by an hour due to a train fire - we were in disbelief to experience a train delay in Japan, and it's a bit stressful when we couldn't understand the announcements. We took a local train from Osaka station to Shinimamiya station, which is another main station within Osaka. It's important not to confuse Shin-Imamiya station with Imamiya station (or Shin-Osaka with Osaka etc). The "Shin" prefix means "New". It's like going to New York instead of York.

From Shinimamiya station, we purchased the Koyasan World Heritage Ticket, which was about $28 per person. It included our return train tickets to Koyasan (cable car included), and bus travel while in town. The cable-car takes you up the majority of the altitude change in the last 5 minutes of the journey.

At the exit to the cable car, I peered down the steep mountain edge at the cedar trees lightly drizzled with fresh snow. The bus ride to our accommodations from the cable car station was nothing short of breathtaking. The recent snow added to the magnificence of the scenery on the mountain.

Accommodations: Shojoshin-in monastery. This was a pricey choice at just over $100 per person, but the place had great reviews for the accommodation and food. It's a monastery, and while the monks greeted us and showed us our room, they otherwise kept to themselves. The rooms were comfortable, but overall the building was cold, especially so at night. There was a kerosene heater in the room that needed to be on most of the night, and everything smelled a bit toxic because of it.

On the way to dinner at Shojoshin-in

The food at Shojoshin-in was amazing. The meals - dinner and breakfast - were entirely vegetarian, beautifully presented and creatively flavourful. I'm usually a meat-and-potatoes type, and I never thought that simple dishes made from rice, beans and miso could be so delicious.

Monday, April 7

This morning was spent exploring the Okunoin Cemetery. This cemetery is the main reason to visit Koyasan. At over 1000 years old, the dappled sunlight beams through the tall branches to light the trail through hundreds of monuments. The entrance to the cemetery is right next to the Shojoshin-in guesthouse, and the trail leads to a mausoleum.

Snow was melting from the tree branches, creating a gentle rain along the trail. The guesthouse provided umbrellas for us to use while moving about town. We visited a few temples in town and had lunch at the only place we stumbled upon that served food - a canteen-style restaurant above a souvenir shop.