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Danjo Garan (壇場伽藍) on Koyasan
Kobo Daishi’s life was devoted, in part, to the construction of Danjo Garan on Koyasan. The grounds are lovely and probably crawling with tourists 99% of the time. If you ever visit Koyasan, do yourself a favor, and instead of making it a day trip or being the first one back on the bus/tram/train in the morning after breakfast, head over to Danjo Garan in the morning when you will likely have the place to yourself.
Stand and eat noodles at Shin-Imamiya Station (新今宮駅)
The morning I headed out for Koyasan from Osaka I figured I would just find some breakfast along the way. By the time I arrived at the Shinimamiya Station for the train transfer I was starving so I purchased some gyoza and ate them on the platform. They were delicious. On my way back from Koyasan I found out the same station also had the above eating possibility.
This type of eating is known as tachigui (立ち食い) (literally, standing eating), and you can do it in Japan at numerous places including the Nankai Soba (南海そば) pictured here.
Danjo Garan (壇場伽藍) on Koyasan
Koyasan’s Okunoin (奥の院)
Fudoin Japanese garden (日本庭園)
The reviews and recommendations of the temples you can lodge in on Mount Koya are vague, to say the least. I looked in guidebooks and all over the internet and couldn’t find many details like you can when choosing to stay in a hotel, ryokan, or minshuku in most parts of Japan. While my review of Fudoin isn’t going to tell you which temple on Koyasan offers the best value or which temple to avoid, I can tell you about Fudoin.
The first thing to note is that if you plan to go to Koyasan (and you should), don’t make it a day trip. The best part (similar to Shirakawago) is the overnight stay. To make your overnight stay in a Buddhist temple as relaxing as possible, don’t bring all of your luggage with you. The people on the trains, cable car, and buses with a suitcase and large backpack are not happy campers. Instead, stay in the same place in Osaka or Kyoto the night before you go to Koyasan as you do on your night after visiting Koyasan. Most places will allow you to leave your luggage there if you are coming back after being away for just one night. Then you only have to bring a small backpack or camera bag for your one night on Koyasan.
There is no place to stay on Koyasan that isn’t a temple. There are many temples to choose from, but the thing that struck me when I was there is how similar they all appear to be. I somewhat randomly decided on Fudoin. The price was a bit higher than average, but there really aren’t any cheap or inexpensive places. Everything about Fudoin exceeded my expectations. The food was outstanding. The view from my room (pics here) was incredible. The morning prayers were wonderful. There really was nothing to complain about, and I felt the price was very worth every last yen.
Today’s photo, by the way, is a 180 degree panorama from the room where I ate my vegetarian monks’ cuisine (shojin ryori or 精進料理). I assumed that the meal would be served in my room or in a hall with everyone else. Instead, I was ushered into a room overlooking this lovely Japanese garden and ate by myself as the sky darkened.
Taking shelter @ 高野山
I got off at the wrong bus stop (Okunoin-mae or 奥の院前) on Koyasan. Turns out that was a good thing as 30 seconds later the skies went crazy, and I would have been stuck in a 20-minute downpour with nothing but the trees to take cover under had I gotten off at Ichinohashiguchi (一の橋口).
The thunder I heard, just after taking this photo, was like nothing I have ever heard before. The sound seemed to originate from just a few feet away rather than the normal, somewhat distant sound.