Stay in a temple on Mount Koya

Mount Koya, Koyasan in Japanese, is a small town of temples on a plateau some 800 metres up in the mountains of Wakayama prefecture. It was founded in the 9th century by the monk Kukai, known as Kobo Daishi, as the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism, and it has been a place of pilgrimage ever since. It is also the place in Japan where a visitor can most easily stay in a working monastery.

What the experience is

More than fifty of Koyasan’s temples offer shukubo, lodging for pilgrims and travellers. The rooms are in the traditional style, with tatami floors, sliding doors and futons laid out in the evening, often looking onto a garden. Bathrooms are usually shared, and baths are separate for men and women, though some temples now have rooms with private facilities.

The stay includes dinner and breakfast of shojin ryori, the vegetarian cuisine of Buddhist monks, served on low lacquer trays: sesame tofu, mountain vegetables, simmered dishes, pickles, rice and soup, with the freeze-dried tofu that is a speciality of the mountain. Guests are expected by five in the afternoon, as dinner is early.

At about six the next morning, guests are invited to the temple hall for the morning service, half an hour or more of chanting by the monks. Some temples follow it with a fire ritual, and many offer meditation or the copying of sutras.

The other essential is Okunoin, the cemetery that leads to Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum. A path of two kilometres runs beneath cedars several centuries old, past some two hundred thousand tombs and memorials, to a hall lit by thousands of lanterns. Walked at dusk or after dark, it is one of the most atmospheric places in Japan.

When to go

Koyasan is several degrees cooler than the cities below. Autumn colour arrives in late October and early November; winter brings snow and very cold temple corridors; summer is a relief from the heat of Osaka.

Getting there

From Namba station in Osaka, the Nankai Koya line takes about ninety minutes to Gokurakubashi, where a cable car climbs to the plateau; buses run from the top station into town. The journey can also be made from Kyoto in about three hours.

Why OKYTO recommends it

Because it offers a night inside a living religious tradition, on its own terms. Comfort is simple and the hours are early, and the reward is the forest, the food and the sound of the morning service. It pairs well with OKYTO’s Kumano Kodo walk, to which Koyasan is linked by an old pilgrim trail.