Mack Adventures: Day 7 & 8 Koyasan

Koyasan is the center of the Shingon Buddhist sect, and is their most holy place.

We started our trip in a train station...as usual. The train system is really very easy to use, but does require some planning ahead of time. Fortunately we have always managed to find someone who speaks English to ask if we are in the right spot. We do not yet trust our instincts or our reading of signs...

The Namba station for the Nankai line

The trip was direct, but we had to make sure to be in one of the first four cars, because somewhere along the way we dropped the back four cars. The track up to Koya was high up, and very winding. The scenery was beautiful - lots of mountains, greenery and picturesque little towns.

At times as the train went around corners we could see the cars in front twisting and turning,

After our train ride we climbed aboard a cable car. It was really cool because it was built in the shape of the side of the mountain. We had to climb up stairs to reach the cars, and the inside had steep steps. This took us up the mountain - 837 meters in 5 minutes. (It wasn't clear from the information given if the 837 meters was distance or elevation.)

Going up...we sat somewhere in the middle.

When we reached the top we caught a bus which took us further up the mountain to the village. The road was twisting and winding hair pin curves...apparently it is a road for buses only. At the tight corners there were mirrors and space to pull over for one bus, should a bus going down marry a bus going up.

The village if Koyasan exists because it is the head of the Shingon Buddhist sect. The town is full of monasteries, and a "temple stay" is big business...(my opinion).

A map of town reveals many many monasteries to choose from. Our place was called Ekoin.

Front gates.

Our room was similar to that in the Ryokan in Takayama, except there was no bathroom attached to our room, and no air conditioning. It was a bit cooler in Koyasan than in Osaka, but the young monk who showed us our room said it was unusually hot. He said that the normal temperature was about 24 degrees, and the actual temperature was around 30 that day.

The room set up for our arrival.

The room set up for sleeping.

Since I was tired and achy from castle day, I opted to nap on the tatami mats while the others went on a walk around town.

At 4:30 we went for a "meditation" lesson and learned how to do the "counting" meditation, which is the first level of meditation. We were actually at it for about 30 minutes, though it didn't really seem that long. I was not able to maintain the prescribed posture for the whole time. :(

At 5:30 it was time for dinner, and of course we dressed in our yukata. We were told that the word for dinner and bath is similar because they happen at the same time of day. The monk told us that when the man comes home from work, his wife will ask him if he wants dinner or a bath first.

The dinner was served in a special room and like the Ryokan, it was all ready laid out in special dishes. The fare was vegetarian, so there were several different iterations of tofu in our dinner.

The room laid our for our dinner.

Dressed in our yukata.

Our dinner.

After dinner there was a tour if the graveyard, but I opted for the bath and an early bed.

Morning started with a service in the temple at 6:30. It involved chanting by the two monks, and the participants making an "offering". It was interesting, but again I was unable to maintain the proper posture for the whole time. When we asked a young monk later how he managed to kneel for so long, he said that it took time to get used to it....

Up at the temple.

Inside the temple.

After the service we went to a "fire service" which included more chanting, drum beating and bell ringing and lots if fire..."wishes" were offered up in the form of sticks which we could write on. These were prepared ahead of time. It was very interesting, even if loud and smoky.

After the two services it was time for breakfast. Again there was a lot of tofu to choose from. At the Ryokan they had included a croissant and yogurt to "westernize" the breakfast, but this was definitely a non-western breakfast.

Soup, tofu, rice, seaweed vegetables, pickles and tea...

After breakfast we went back to look through the graveyard.

This is one of the most holy places for this sect of Buddhism. It has been used since the 900s. It is believed that the founder of this sect of Buddhism, Kobo Daishi, lives in a state of meditation. It is said that he went to meditate and has never stopped. The monks bring food to him every day.

The graveyard is extremely interesting, mostly because it is so old. I found the trees to be as interesting as the monuments. On the graveyard tour they were told that some of the trees are 700 years old. It was like bring in an old growth forest in Vancouver Island. We noticed that many of the biggest trees were numbered, and that they had a second number which we decided was the age of the tree. It seemed logical because of the number of similar-sized trees that had similar numbers. On a few trees was a four digit number which we took to be the date the tree was planted..again because the size of the trees made sense with the date posted. As well, there were many trees which were "tied" together with cable, we guessed in an effort to keep them from falling over, though I did wonder how there was really any way to prevent a tree that size from falling if gravity makes it so....

This is just to prove that I really was there :)

This tree and the one beside it were held using an complicated system of heavy cable attached to other trees. Note how they have protected the trees from the cable. I didn't actually see if they had done the same at the top of the other trees.

A massive root system.

The large number is the tree number. We arrived at this conclusion since the number on consecutive trees increased. Trees in this particular grouping of trees were all about the same size and all had small number plates in the 300s.

We decided this must be the year the tree was planted. Since there are records for this graveyard dating back to 900 something AD, it seemed a reasonable conclusion. Also, this tree was similar in size to the trees with the 300s on them. No idea why there might be two systems...

A beautiful tree root mass...

The tree in the background is completely rotted, but isn't supported in any way.

Okunoin views...

There is actually a guide map for this cemetery, but it's all in Japanese. It is a place where many pilgrims come, so having a map would be important to help find things.

Just before this bridge entering the cemetery there was a small fountain. All visitors to the graveyard are supposed to purify themselves before entering. Using the dipper provided, a person pours water first on the left hand, then on the right, takes a mouthful of water and spits it out. Then pours water over the hand holding the dipper and then finally pours water on the place where they spit.

The graves and monuments are very close together, and some are very old.

Many of the monuments have the same 5 stones on top. The bottom "cube" stands for earth, the the next block represents water, the next fire, the next air and the top one represents the void or sky.

This is a monument put up to commemorate the Korean soldiers who died in wars with Japan.

This is the goddess of beauty. As you can see, many people have come to leave gifts. I thought it was an interesting statement that the goddess of beauty needed makeup to make her more beautiful.

This section of the cemetary is very close to the Kongobuji (shrine), and it is next to the river where the faithful can go to purify themselves. Alternatively, these statues can be used for purification. A person need only splash water on the Buddha figure to be purified.

This "pyramid" of small monuments was in a different part of the cemetary. There was no explanation as to why they are piled in this manner, though it is obvious that people have been leaving gifts at some of them.

The are some newer and more modern monuments in the cemetary, but I was most intrigue by this one....it appears to be a monument to the Apollo program...