Japan weekend #17 - Koya-san!

If you ever visit Japan, make sure a temple stay at Koya-san is on your itinerary. Koya-san is that idealised Japan of your dreams - stunning scenery, fresh mountain air, living history, rock gardens, beautiful temples and architecture, peacefulness, rich red and orange autumn leaves - everything that a lot of modern Japan is not!

What a wonderful weekend! We had our first house guest stay on Friday, the lovely Allison, who lives all the way down the bottom of Wakayama prefecture in Shingu. It was a great excuse to go shopping for new sheets and pillows at Nitori, and stop by Uniqlo while we were there. I love Uniqlo for it's inexpensive yet fashionable clothes. I just wish they'd make their sizes a bit more Westerner-friendly! We took Allison to dinner at a local okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake) place, where you choose the okonomiyaki you want, they bring you a bowl with the ingredients, and you fry it yourself on the table. Fun, easy and so tasty!

Saturday was a really wonderful day, one of the best I've had in Japan so far. Our first stop was Dooshel bakery cafe, a gorgeous bakery cafe in the mountains of Kimino. I'm so grateful to have a cafe with good bread nearby, as supermarket bread here in Japan is invariably white and sugary.

Brunch at Dooshel

Brunch at Dooshel Cafe, Kimino

Flowers at Dooshel cafe, Kimino

Brunch at Dooshel cafe, Kimino

Next up was Fleurir Boulangerie for macarons and fruit bread. I'm so happy to have found this place, too! 

Fleurir boulangerie, Momoyama

We picked up our friend Quincy and drove to Koya-san. I don't know how our tiny little car made it up the mountain with the four of us and our luggage, but it did.

Koya-san is just stunningly beautiful, particularly this time of year with the leaves turning bright orange and red. My point and shoot camera doesn't do it justice. 

Autumn leaves, Koya-san

We toured the central temple complex with our English speaking guide, learning about how Koya-san became the home of Shingon Japanese Buddhism in the year 819, established by the monk Kobo Daishi. He chose the spot well. The place is serene. Visiting Koya-san is also a common way to begin or end the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage Lisa Dempster wrote about in Neon Pilgrim, so you see lots of mainly older Japanese people there wearing their white robes. There are lots of small rituals to try at Koya too, such as lifting up this really heavy rock. I could only lift it a little bit. Apparently if you are pure of heart (or something like that) it should be light as a feather. Felt pretty heavy to me!

Our tour guide, Koya-san

Tea and a sweet rice cracker, Koya-san

Rock garden, Koya-san

Monks, Koya-san

Mochi, Koya-san

 Next we went for a hike near the daimon (big gate) and looked across the mountains.  

Hiking near the big gate, Koya-san

Hiking, Koya-san

View from the top of our hike, Koya-san

The Wakayama JET girls, Koya-san

Our accomodation for the evening was at the beautiful Regenjoin Temple.  It was just lovely and a quintessential Japanese experience. Tatami mat rooms, comfortable futons, kotatsu (low tables with a heat source underneath) to keep us warm, robes to wear, onsen, Japanese gardens.  

Beautiful Rengojoin Temple, Koya-san

Rengejoin Temple offers mediation sessions, and I attended one in the late afternoon. I certainly didn't achieve enlightenment! It wasn't easy to sit cross-legged on the floor for close to an hour, and I couldn't stop thinking about things and just be. I tried again at six am in the morning the next day and found it a bit easier second time around. 

Dinner was vegetarian, and we heard from a 91 year old lady about her life pre-war, when she learnt English in Tokyo, which was later known as the 'enemy language' during war time, and how she then became very useful as an English translator when visitors started coming back to Koya-san following the war.

Vegetarian dinner, Rengejoin Temple, Koya-san

Vegetarian dinner, Rengejoin Temple, Koya-san

After dinner we took a night walk in the cemetery, then I soaked in the hot bath, which felt so nice after a long day of walking. Luckily the thirty people in our group had a separate wing of the temple, as we stayed up late, drinking, eating and talking.

Sunday breakfast was my first traditional Japanese breakfast. Rice for breakfast!

Traditional Japanese vegetarian breakfast, Rengejoin Temple, Koya-san

We then toured the cemetery, which is pretty fascinating and has lots of great things to see, and watched the monks take Kobo Daishi his lunch. It is believed that Kobo Daishi didn't die, but has been meditating for the last 1200 years, so they still bring him breakfast and lunch every single day.  

Cemetery, Koya-san

Cemetery, Koya-san

Memorial for babies who died prematurely, Koya-san

I love Koya-san, and want to go back again when it's snowing. I'd never heard of Koya-san before coming here, and it's one of the best things I've done in Japan so far. Make sure it goes on your to-do-in-Japan list!