Mt. Koya (Koya-san) is located on the Kii Peninsula to the southeast of Osaka. Surrounded by black cedars, this mountain top is Japan's most venerated Shingon-Buddhist site. Saint Kukai (or Kobo Daishi) established a monastic retreat here in 816. During the Edo period, there were over a thousand temples on the mountain, but typhoons and fire have reduced them to just over 100.
On what was the most unique stay of the trip, we were lodging for the night at one of the many sub-temples on Koya-san. Our sub-temple was Shojoshinin. Arriving in the late afternoon, after a journey up the mountain by cable car, the weather had turned very cold. Befitting the temple surroundings, our room was traditional and sparse but very nice. It had a great view of the temple garden and mountains. Also, it had a kotatsu all set up! A kotastu is a table with a heater under it. The table is topped off with a futon. So, you get under the futon and sit around the table and it is nice a cozy. And everything is taken care of by young men training to be buddhist monks.
After a bit of tea, Takeo stopped by our room (he was there as our guide) to pick us up for dinner. We were served in a lovely tatami room that we had to ourselves. The dinner was a kaiseki (coursed dinner), but was very different from the one we had on Ie Shima. Because we were at a Buddhist temple we had traditional vegetarian fare. Which was very.......interesting...to put it nicely! Though it wasn't horrible, it wasn't great either. The cuisine is known as shojin-ryori and consists of tempura, aghe, Koya-tofu, Goma-tofu, Miso soup, sweet-and-sour seaweeds in vinegar and wild potatoes. It is all cooked without meat, fish, onions or garlic. Probably the healthiest meal I've ever had, but if that's healthy ~ I don't want to be healthy!
After dinner, we decided to fully embrace our surroundings and become truly "japanese" and take a bath. The baths were traditional. Which means that there was a big bath for the men and one for the women. The 'tubs' could hold maybe 3 or 4 people. You strip down in the changing room completely, then you enter the bath. There are spouts with stools and buckets that you sit by and scrub down at. You wash off before you get into the tub. It's a very different concept than western baths. The bath is more like a soak in a hot tub. And the Japanese do not have the hang up about nudity the way we do. It's completely normal to be naked in the baths. No one is looking and it's certainly in no way "erotic". Besides, it was sooo hot and foggy and I couldn't wear my glasses, so I could barely see a couple of inches in front of me much less anyone else!! Even Dad partook in a bath!! I guess when in rome....
Nice and toasty and relaxed from the baths, we all popped into bed. Which for mom and dad were the first futons they slept in on the trip. Basically, in a traditional japanese room, the floor is covered in tatami mats (reed carpets) and you don't wear shoes on them. Then the futons are laid out on the floor. There is a small pad, then the futon, then a down comforter. They are all laid out next to each other- like one giant adult slumber party!!! Now, remember how I said it had gotten colder???Well, it was actually downright frigid! And our only source of heat was a little kerosene heater, which you turn off at night. So, we were freezing by the time we walked back from the baths and popped into bed. But lo and behold a surprise awaited us- each futon had a hot water bottle in the foot of the bed!! They were amazing and kept us warm all night long.
To truly experience the Buddhist way, we were up at 5:30 AM, (yep, that's AM people!) to attend the morning prayer ceremony. Thank God (pun very much intended!) it didn't last the full hour we were told it was going to. It was only 30 minutes long, but I think I got the gist of the ceremony about 5 minutes into it. We sat on a bench behind a Buddhist monk who chanted for 30 minutes. It was very interesting, but it was sooooo cold out and we were sitting in front of a rice paper wall to the outside. Oh, did I mention that it SNOWED the night before!!!! Anyway, I guess I'm not too enlightened because all I kept thinking about was pancakes with warm maple syrup and some crisp bacon!!!!!! I'm not sure those are buddha-approved thoughts!
On the way to breakfast, I had a "Jen Janis" moment. We were walking along the outer corridor and I was looking outside at the serene scene of cedars covered in snow and the beautiful temple grounds......and I walked right off a ledge and fell flat on my face!!!! Yep, just fell right on over. Haha! I scraped up my knees a bit and scared everyone out of their solemn reverence (or sleep) by making such a loud bang and laughing so hard!! Typical klutzy me!
Maybe as punishment for my lack of discipline during prayer, breakfast was basically the same as dinner the night before. No pancakes, no warm maple syrup, and definitely no crisp bacon!!
We spent the morning touring the different significant sites on Koya-san. The best of which was the Okuno-in (inner sanctum) of Kukai's mausoleum. Leading up to it is a necropolis of over 200,000 tombs. I know it sounds morbid, but they were absolutely stunning. The stones were draped in moss, some had very intricate designs on them and the setting amongst the cedars, with the melting snow, was something that I will never forget. It is considered the highest honor to be buried here, so many of Japan's most powerful and illustrious families have tombs here. You actually rent the space- if you don't pay the rent they move you!!
In front of Kukai's mausoleum, where by the way he is not dead but merely sleeping- so Shh!!! be very quiet, is the Toro-do (Lantern Hall). There are 11,000 lanterns in the Toro-do that burn continuously. Including two that are believed to have been burning since the 11th century.
We, also, saw Kongobu-ji, the main temple. The screens in the rooms were painted in the ~~ fashion and were really beautiful. However, because of their age and fragile nature, I couldn't take any photos. The rock garden here depicted a dragon swimming through a lake and was very fascinating. We stopped and had tea in the large ceremony room before heading out into the cold again.
We toured another building called Karukayado that held painted panels depicting the sorrowful tale of Karukaya Doshin and Ishidomaru, who devoted themselves completely to acsetic training without ever revealing their fillial relationship.. The story was very interesting even if it was a little hard to follow. A lot of fake identities and miscommunications, etc. Very soap operaesque!
We left Koya-san in the late morning and slowly worked our way back to the lights and sounds of modern civilization.
I have to say that our short stay on Mt. Koya was a remarkable experience for me. I've done so many unique things in Japan, but this may be the most unique. It is highly unusual for the average Japanese person to go and stay over night, so for me to experience it was amazing. I'm not sure I'd have wanted to stay any longer, but I feel blessed that Mom, Dad & I were able to be there.
I may not have reached enlightenment, but I just may be on my way!!!
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