Koyasan Temple Retreat

The final, most dramatic leg of the journey is via cable car to the temple complex, which sits on top of a small plateau ringed by the eight Koya Peaks.

Japan’s holiest mountain chain, Koyasan is the centre of the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism, introduced to the country in the early ninth century by the monk Kobo Daishi. A small, isolated community, Koya houses close to one hundred temples and monasteries, some of them truly magnificent. Equally stunning is the surrounding scenery of thick cedar woods, sheltered valleys and misty mountain peaks.

Your guide will be waiting to greet you on arrival at the cable car station in Koyasan. Your tour will take in Kongobu-ji Temple, the headquarters of Shingon and the setting for Japan’s largest rock garden; the magnificent Daigaran complex, housing Koya’s oldest temple and a spectacular vermilion pagoda; and Reihokan, the Treasure House Museum, a cornucopia of statues, antiques and paintings detailing Koya’s past.

End the tour with a visit to the Okunoin cemetery, a necropolis of over 200,000 tombs in the cedar forests east of Koya. The centrepiece here is the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, which is accessed via a long cedar-lined approach through the cemetery, lit by stone lanterns and lined with elaborately decorated tombs.

After your tour, your guide will escort you to your lodgings in Koya. You will be staying in a shukubo—authentic Japanese temple lodgings—where you’ll be provided with a private tatami-mat room and a dinner of shojin ryori, traditional vegetarian Buddhist cuisine! After dinner, relax in the onsen hot spring baths.

The rest of the morning is free for you to explore Koyasan, taking in some of the sights you may have missed during yesterday’s guided tour. You might like to visit the Daimon, a towering shrine gate situated just outside of town on the edge of the plateau, from where you have a marvellous view of the mountains, forests, and, on exceptionally clear days, distant Shikoku Island.

This morning, you can also attend a Buddhist initiation ceremony in one of Koyasan’s temples (included with your Koyasan pass). The half hour ceremony is conducted by a head monk, and takes place in the darkened main hall of one of the temples. It’s a mock ritual (the formal Kechien Kanjō initiation ceremony takes place twice yearly), but the chanting, incense and dramatic lighting combine to create a wonderfully atmospheric performance.

In the afternoon, catch the train back to Osaka/Kyoto.