Wed, Jul 25: Koyasan

We took a train ride...

to Koyasan, a significant active monastic center for the study and practice of Esorteric Buddhism, and home of over 100 temples and shrines.  It is the headquarters for the Koyasa sect of Shingon Buddhism.  

We stayed overnight in one of the temples, Shojoshin-in Temple.  Very enjoyable and interesting.   One of the highlights of the trip.

View out our window

Room has a nice balcony

Shoes were left out side, as usual. 

After checking in, we walked through the old, very large cemetery.  It contains 200,000 gravestones, monuments, and memorials.  A beautiful walk, through towering old trees that blocked the direct sunlight, except for some rays that would light up some of the tombstones and monuments.  It was very quiet and peaceful.  And ancient...there was moss and lichen on many of the stones and memorials. The cemetery and complex is over 1200 years old.

Click for more photos from the cemetery.

At the end of the cemetery is the Lantern Temple.  There are 21,000 lanterns, 2 of which have burned continuously for over 1,000 years. 

We had dinner sitting on the floor, dressed in the supplied Yukata robes.  The food was delicious. 

We slept on mats on the floor.  

The bathroom was down the hall, down stairs, down the hall.  A bath was a traditional Japanese bath – sponge bath, rinse the soap off, then soak and relax in the tub, which was like a hot tub, only hotter!

We walked the cemetery at night, as it was lit by lanterns.