Walking through a dark cemetery...We're fine...What was that?!
August 2, 2018
We were excited to head out of the city into the mountains to Koyasan!
Getting there was quite a journey in itself, involving several train transfers and a steep cable car ride up the mountain, and about 5 hours after we started we arrived. The ride only got more beautiful as we went along, passing small towns and farms. As we began the cable car ride we could smell the pine trees and hear the creek passing by, and it was already obvious why this location was chosen as the home of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. It was developed in 816 by Kobo Daishi. In addition to being the father of this sect of Buddhism, he was also a poet, artist, and engineer. As we researched to learn more about him and this area, we found many of his quotes, but one that stood out to us was: “Do not follow in the footsteps of great men, but seek what they sought.”
The view from our shukubo.
As soon as we started walking through the small town of Koyasan to our temple lodging, we could see the many temples that make up this Shingon Buddhist temple complex. There are 117 temples here today, but there once was many more.
We were excited to try a completely unique experience and stay in the Buddhist Temple overnight in a shukubo (temple lodging). As we were taken to our room, the monk showed us the paintings on the walls and the temple, some hundreds and one was even two thousand years old. Our room was actually made up of 3 rooms (sleeping, dining, and lounge) and they were connected by paper walls and sliding doors. We also had sliding doors looking out onto our own private garden.
Danjo-Guran
We began to wander the town and check out some of the temples. We walked to the front of Kongobu-ji Temple with a huge wooden gate at the entrance. We spent most of our time in Danjo-Guran, considered the religion center of Koyasan. This area has a unique and massive temple as it’s centerpiece, surrounded by many smaller temples and shrines, all surrounded by the pine and cedar trees of the forest.
We made it back just in time for dinner which they served in our room. Being a Buddhist Temple, all the food was vegetarian, but they made us quite the spread! We ate on the tatami mat floor and Chuck remembered that he can’t sit on the floor for long periods. We have never had tofu cooked so many different ways!
Chuck was not made to eat on the floor...
We had a curfew of 9pm (a first for us when traveling) so we only had a few more hours to see more of Koyasan. We went to Okunoin-in Cemetery. Here we walked through over 300,000 tombstones, some ancient and others modern. As the sun began to go down and the lanterns turned on, the cemetery became both beautiful and eerie. We walked down the long path leading to Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum. Everywhere we looked were moss covered tombstones and memorials, offerings, and ancient cedar trees. Many of the statues were also wearing red bibs which are put on them by mothers to protect their children in their afterlife.
Our glimpse of the cemetery at dusk.
On our way through we also stopped at the Miroku stone, which is a caged stone and you are supposed to try to lift it from a lower shelf to a higher shelf. According to legend, the stone “holds the weight of your sins.” Apparently we aren’t very good people because we could not lift the stone...
We continued to walk past the bridge to the mausoleum and this area is considered the most sacred. The main hall was surrounding by thousands of glowing lanterns and chimes blowing in the wind. We were alone except for another man who was preparing for prayer by lighting a candle to then light his incense. He then prayed under glow of the orange lanterns.
Our stroll through the cemetery in the dark...
The next morning we woke up at 6 a.m. to watch the morning ceremony and prayers. We listened as they chanted and prayed before blessing us with incense. Between the temple stay and walking through the town to explore all the temples, this area was serene and it was beautiful experience. We were glad we made the trek to this village.
