JAPAN: Mount Koya, Okunoin Cemetery, Monasteries and a Shukubo

Mount Koya is a sacred site in Japan and is home to over 100 temples and monasteries.

The mountain religious site was originally established in 819, over 1200 years ago, and has been a place of spiritual significance for centuries.

It is also the site of Kobo Daishi's mausoleum, the start and end point of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage and home to the Shingon School of Buddhism.

Mt. Koya remains one of Japan's premier training centres for Esoteric Buddhism with dozens of temples, gardens, and old-growth trees.

The mountain is recognized as the center of Shingon Buddhism.

As the legend goes, Kobo Daishi built the sect’s headquarters on this mountain in 826AD after a long and arduous journey all over Japan looking for the perfect place.

Following the establishment of this temple, spiritual followers joined the great monk, setting up temples throughout the richly forested top of Mount Koya.

Okunoin Cemetery, on the mountain is one of Japan’s most sacred sites, and the location of Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum.

There are about 2km (1.2 miles) of walking paths through the wooded cemetery with around 200,000 tombstones belonging to prominent monks, feudal lords, and other influential figures in Japanese culture.

There were large monuments for the families of prominent Japanese companies. I really liked this one for NISSAN. The monument is in memory of workers who had lost their lives on the job.

Mount Koya, while not in Shikoku, is considered the starting point of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage.

Some temples in Japan, especially in popular pilgrimage destinations, offer temple lodgings called “shubukos” to visiting pilgrims and tourists.

In Mount Koyo there are more than 50 temples that offer a shubuko stay.

Temple lodgings typically offer simple, private, traditional Japanese rooms with shared toilets and sinks. 

Futons are spread on the floor in the evening for sleeping.

To remain pure, Buddhist monks observe a vegetarian diet, consisting largely of tofu and seasonal wild vegetables. This cuisine is known as shojin ryori. 

Specialities such as konnyaku (devils tongue jelly), yuba (tofu skin) and koyadofu (freeze dried tofu) are served. 

We got up early for morning prayers. Sorry, not photos.

Followed by another vegetarian breakfast,

It is definitely a very pretty place. 

And easy to see why it would be chosen as a sacred place.