A Guide to Japan’s Mt. Koya

Shrouded in mystery, legend, and rich spiritual significance, the small mountaintop Buddhist community of Mt. Koya (known locally as Koyasan) in Wakayama prefecture is a destination that will educate, surprise and inspire. 

Stay with Buddhist monks, meditate Zen style, sample local mountain cuisine, learn about the religious legacy of Japan, soak up the tranquility of the region's nature with some shinrinyoku (forest bathing), and leave feeling refreshed and energized. 

A visit to Mt. Koya is like a wellness escape, done traditional Japanese style. Intrigued? Well, here's what you need to know!

Mt. Koya is regarded as the physical and spiritual home of Shingon Buddhism, an influential sect of Buddhism (one of Japan's two main religions). The word shingon comes from the Japanese reading of the kanji for the Chinese word zhen yan, which translated means "true words". Its teachings believe that words and existence are inseparable and that the deeper essence and understanding of Buddhism cannot be explained in human language but can be better understood through scripture which is seen as the signpost for true reality.

The origins of Shingon Buddhism can be traced back to one influential figure, Kobo Daishi, (also called Kukai, 774–835), a Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who remains on Mt. Koya in a state of eternal meditation. In 805 Kobo Daishi brought the school of Buddhism to Japan after traveling to China to study the practice and philosophy of Buddhism. Twenty years after the establishment of the practice, Kobo Daishi built the sect's headquarters, the Garan Temple, on the mountaintop in 826. 

He spent two decades searching for the perfect home to embrace his religion, finally settling on the land we know today as Mt. Koya. As time passed, other spiritual followers also made the pilgrimage to the site, building temples across the mountain's grounds and slowly forming the village into the one we know today.

An adventure through Mt. Koya can be shaped any way you like, but to better understand the context and significance of the mountain, it's best to start with a little spiritual exploration. 

Visit Okunoin, the centerpiece of Mt. Koya

This lush peaceful forested cemetery is home to around 200,000 tombstones belonging to prominent monks, feudal lords, and other influential figures in Japanese culture who in death, wished to be close to the legendary Kobo Daishi. 

Coated in a soft fine layer of moss, you can stroll through the area in about an hour, as the walk is about two kilometers, but put aside a little extra time if you want to explore in more depth. 

The heart of Okunoin is Torodo Hall (the Hall of Lamps), the main hall for worship, built in front of Kobo Daishi's mausoleum. Inside the hall, you'll find over 10,000 lanterns donated by worshipers and kept eternally lit! If you can, try visiting twice, once in the morning and later in the evening, as this hall after dark, glowing in the warm orange light, is nothing short of an ethereal experience.

Behind the hall is Kobo Daishi's mausoleum, where according to legend, the spiritual leader remains in a state of eternal meditation, praying on the grounds of Okunoin.

Sample local Buddhist cuisine

As part of their religious practice, Buddhist monks are vegetarian to ensure "purity"; it came into popularity with the spread of Zen-style Buddhism in the 13th century. Shojin ryori is the name given to this type of vegetarian cuisine which consists largely of tofu and delicious seasonal wild vegetables; it's fresh, wholesome, and deliciously diverse. If you're lodging at a temple, most will offer shojin ryori meals, but if you're visiting for the day, you can visit the Koyasan Shukubo Association (Central Office) to make a reservation for a shojin ryori lunch.

Start the day in prayer

Each morning, many of the mountain's temple lodging welcome the day with a near-dawn, meditative morning prayer service. Temple lodging Souji-in runs a morning prayer service daily from 6:00 a.m. so it's well worth considering a night there to be a part of this unforgettable experience.

Partake in Zen meditation

Another centerpiece of the Buddhist religion and a great way to center the body and mind is Zen meditation. A little different from more contemporary meditation practices, Zen is focused on observing and letting go of the thoughts and feelings that may arise in your mind to go deeper into one's psyche and explore life's great questions, uncovering in time the answer to true happiness. Many temples offer sessions, so if you plan to stay, ask your temple monk about when the meditation sessions run.

Go temple hopping

If you visited Mt. Koya and didn't explore the temples, did you even visit at all? That is the question. Many of the accommodations on the mountain are fully functioning temples, meaning that if you do stay a night, you're already deep in the temple experience. However, for day visitors, you might want to be a little more conscientious about your temple visiting plans, and there's one main destination, Garan. 

Garan is Mt. Koya's central temple complex. It's home to architectural spiritual wonders, but the two main ones are Kondo Hall and the almost staggeringly huge Konpon Daito Pagoda. 

The large wooden temple hall is Kondo Hall, where many of the mountain's major ceremonies are hosted. The current incarnation of the building dates back to 1932, but its history runs far longer, back to the days Kobo Daishi walked the earth. The Konpon Daito Pagoda is a 45-meter-tall double-tiered pagoda that houses a massive statue of the central Buddha in Shingon Buddhism, Dainichi Nyorai (Cosmic Buddha, also known as Vairocana).

Beyond these two key destinations, the mountain is home to over 50 individual temples, many of which are also used as temple lodging. This map is a good starting point for knowing where to go.

For the full Mt. Koya experience, it's really worth considering a stay in a temple lodge (known in Japanese as shukubo). Souji-in is one of the mountain's most highly-sought after stays as it artfully mixes the region's rich spiritual culture with modern, more luxurious comforts, offering you the best of both worlds without compromising on authenticity.

The rooms in this beautiful facility offer both classic tatami mat and futon bedding as well as western style options. A stay here also means you don't have to worry about meals. They serve up shojin ryori, which is delivered to your room by the temple's monks. And as mentioned, morning prayer service can be observed daily from around 6:00 a.m. while meditation classes are also available for staying guests on request.

If you're traveling from Kyoto or Tokyo, there are no direct routes to the mountain. The best course of action is to head to Shin-Osaka, Osaka's shinkansen (bullet train) serviced station. 

Osaka's Nankai Koya Line, which departs from Osaka's Namba Station and Shin-Imamiya Station, connects the city with the neighboring Wakayama prefecture. Take the train to Gokurakubashi Terminal Station. The route offers a few limited express trains, which take about 80 minutes, and the non-limited express takes about; otherwise, this route will take around 100 minutes.

Once at Gokurakubashi Terminal Station, you'll transfer to the cable car, which is a five-minute ascent up the mountain. Exploring the local sights at Mt. Koya is relatively doable on foot, but local bus services travel throughout the town.