Koyasan

We have been spending the past few days up in the mountains staying at a Buddhist temple (Kongo Sanmai in). To get there, we had to take a very scenic train ride and eventually a cable car to get up into the much cooler and greener town of Koyasan.  Note from Grace: Koyasan is about 900m above sea level – that’s like having a town at the top of Snowdon! Also, the cable car was pretty hairy, but with Hugh’s unending support, I didn’t have a nervy-b).

The area is very significant within particular schools of Japanese Buddhism and we have been working hard to clue ourselves up on a lot of things that we saw there (and during our trip in general). The temple we stayed at is in a very lush green forested area. Whcih meant that, inevitably, I got bitten to death by insects. HOW DO I NEVER CATCH THEM AT IT??

This is the 800 year old pagoda in the grounds of our temple lodgings.

Yesterday we were shown around our very spacious lodgings and told that we were invited to attend the morning prayers at 06:30, after which breakfast would be served. The next morning we woke bright and early to go and join the prayers. This was a very interesting experience for the two of us. The monks take pride in accommodating visitors who take an interest in their culture so we were part of a group of interested tourists and practising Buddhists. After the prayers we were allowed to walk around the inner parts of the temple and pay our respects. You may not know this but we have actually seen a lot of temples by now. However, we have not been able to get up close to the statues and artefacts in one yet. So this was a very informative experience. The statues are amazing, but also quite frightening. They kept giving me evils.

Hugh at the gate of our lodgings.

When we returned to our room we had a simple traditional vegetarian breakfast laid out for us.

Having got up so early (for a holiday) we were out sightseeing bright and early. We headed for the huge graveyard a short distance from where we were staying. On the way, we came across a small temple (with a much-fluffy-very-dog friend outside) where we could have our fortunes told by pulling a large set of rosary beads. I got a medium blessing and Grace got a small one – get in! You can’t win that on the wheel of fortune!

The graveyard is a very significant area for Japanese Buddhists and lines the path towards the Oku-no-in memorial hall to Kobo Daishi who is apparently in eternal mediation within the tomb there. The are huge ancient trees lining the path with thousands of graves and statues scattered about.

There are various statues of Buddhist deities who you can splash with water to honour them. We also encountered many ‘Jizo’ statues which we learned are gravestones for children and babies. These statues often sport knitted bibs and hats. We managed to find one who looked made up for a night out on the tiles.

At the end of the path is the actual memorial hall which is full of hundreds of oil lamps kept alight by monks. With some that have apparently been burning for 900 years. We weren’t allowed to take any photos so you will have to take us at our word when we say it was very impressive and well-worth a visit. So here is a picture of the shiny-fly-hard-guy we met on the way. There was also a shrine with a big rock in it. You had to have a go at picking the rock up and the weight would tell you how virtuous you were (ie. if it was heavy, you were full of sin). Needless to say, it was heavy for both me and Hugh. The uni years have clearly left me with some spiritual weight I need to shift.

We spent the remainder of the day lazing in cafes, watching the Olympics and then we went for a run around the local area. We found a lovely cafe to have lunch in. A french lady and Japanese man ran it and it had some lovely vegan/vegetarian food. We had the most delicious vegan cheesecake.  Today we have travelled for around 6 hours ( including back down the cable car slope!) to get back to Tokyo for the last leg of our trip. We arrived in the Akihabara area during a torrential downpour and are just drying off before we explore the local area.

Rice ball count: Probably about 10-I am delirious from their effect (and 1 aborted homemade one from our leftover monk breakfast)

 

Can we please have something other than rice to eat please? Mum – Yorkshire puds when I’m home.