Wakayama Prefecture: Ethereal Landscape – ‎Koyasan World Heritage

Koyasan (Mount Koya) is one of the World Heritage Sites in Japan, located in Wakayama Prefecture. An ancient place (known to be the center of Shingon Buddhism) where you will see over a hundred thousand tombstones and Buddhist memorials that lined up along the thousand years old cedar trees. Koyasan has the largest cemetery (surrounded by famous mausoleum) in all of Japan. 

The convenient way to get there is through Nankai Railways from Osaka's Namba station going to Gokurakubashi station. From Gokurakubashi, you will ride a cablecar to climb up the mountain to Koyasan. Cablecar is impressive as it can pull a number of passengers. Try to be in front of the cablecar to see a perfect view while it climbs the mountain going to Gokurakubashi station.

From Gokurakubashi station, there is a bus that will take about 5-6 minutes to reach the largest graveyard and Okunioin Temple. Here's a 4.5 minutes video of our tripventure to Koyasan.

We started exploring the place by dropping by at the entrance of Okunoin Cemetery where you will start to see hundreds of tombstones.
2019 Autumn was about to end when we visited Koyasan. 
As we explore the Okunoin Cemetery, we bumped into this temple called 'Eihakuden'. The temple was built in 1927, a place where the spirits of World War II were mourned.

And the bridge was built to convey the prayer of peace to the world. Japanese believed that color red expel demons and illnesses. Red as a symbol of fire and sun and they also consider it as the color of life that rejects evil spirits, danger, and bad luck. 

Tall and huge cedar trees covered our way to Gokusho Offering Hall, a place where buddhas are lined up in front of the water. The path are also surrounded by Jizos. 

Jizo is a Japanese name and Bosatsu (Bodhisattva) a person who has attained enlightenment, but postpones Buddhahood (Nirvana) to help others to attain enlightenment and transcend the “wheel of life”

This is Shotokuden Tea Hall, a resting place for people who worship. A hall where you can grab a self-service cup of tea. 

Next to Shotokuden Tea Hall is the Gokusho Offering Hall where you will see a row of statues depicting Jizo. Some visitors make offerings and throw water at the statues, known as Mizumuke Jizo (Water Covered Jizo) to pray for the deceased family members.
This is Torodo (Hall of Lamps), Okunoin's main hall for worship. The hall contains more than 10,000 lanterns that are kept lit constantly. Behind the hall is Kobo Daishi's Mausoleum. 

Who is Kobo Daishi? 

Kobo Daishi 'Kukai' was a Buddhist monk and known as most influential during the Heian period. He founded Shingon Buddhism which teaches that enlightenment can be found through spiritual practices.

The Gobyobashi Bridge, which is located behind the Mizumuke Jizo. The bridge separates the innermost grounds of the temple from the rest of Okunoin. Visitors bow to Kobo Daishi as they exit their way out of Kobo Daishi's Mausoleum.

This is Okesho jizo. I guess this is one of the famous jizo in Koyasan. 

There are Torii gates as well, however, they are not the typical red Torris we see in Japan. Red Torris symbolizes vitality and protection against evil spirits, rejecting danger and bad luck. Torris in Okunoin seems to be dead as well. 
The thousand years old cedar trees are also amazing. They are really huge and tall. 

Koyasan is indeed an ethereal landscape where the atmosphere of peace and calmness of nature are noticeably present.  This was just a day trip and we will definitely explore it again to see the other side of Koyasan.

Address and Location: