Japan Guide
Kansai
Kōya-san
Ever since the Buddhist monk Kōbō Daishi founded a temple here in the early ninth century, KŌYA-SAN, some 50km south of Ōsaka, has been one of Japan's holiest mountains. The town itself is in a high, cedar-filled valley near the top of the mountain, 800m above sea level, where more than one hundred monasteries cluster round the head temple of the Shingon school of Buddhism, Kongōbu-ji. This isolated community is protected by two concentric mountain chains of eight peaks, which are said to resemble an eight-petalled lotus blossom.
Whatever your religious persuasion, there's a highly charged, slightly surreal atmosphere about this group of temples suspended among the clouds. The journey alone, a dramatic ride by train and cable car, is spectacular, and Kōya-san is also a good place to step out of Japan's hectic city life for a day or two. One of its great delights is to stay in a shukubō, or temple lodging, and attend a dawn prayer service. Afterwards, head for the Garan, the mountain's spiritual centre, or wander among the thousands of ancient tombs and memorials which populate the Okunoin cemetery, where Kōbō Daishi's mausoleum is honoured with a blaze of ten thousand oil-fuelled brass lanterns.
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