Fudouin
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Koyasan is on Mount Koya and is the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at Fudouin, a Buddhist temple, in the town. Koyasan is located in the mountains just a two-hour train ride south of Osaka. Getting to Koyasan required a ride on a rural train with a few change-overs. Eventually we got to Gokurakubashi Station and took a cable car up the mountain to our final stop. From the station we took a cab through Koyasan to our lodgings at Fudouin.
Unfortunately, we only stayed one night in Koyasan. Staying one night is something we will never do again, because if we want to see what the town has to see, we can’t do it in one day. Koyasan is a rather small town, but there are so many temples and other sights to see. We did manage to go through Okunoin, which was the main part we wanted to see. We plan on revisiting this town again sometime, but for at least two days next time.
Fudouin is a shukubo, temple lodgings, where visitors can experience a little of what it’s like to live like a monk. To even get to the temple we had to go up a very long driveway to the main building of Fudouin. At the main entrance is a large sign featuring the town’s mascot, Koya-kun, a cute monk character inspired by the many inhabitants of the town. Koyau-kun is easily spotted all over the town. Fudouin is a bit different than the other temples around the area since it is a little smaller and set further into the forest. Even with the smaller areas, the complex is beautiful and serene, the perfect combination for a temple.
At the front entrance next to a statue is a charming pond with plenty of colorful koi. One of our favorite features isn’t even part of the temple area, but are all the trees towering all around the complex. The main entrance building is where we got checked in and got general help from the attendant there, such as calling for a taxi. From there the meditation room is just off to the side and the different dining halls are on the way to the rooms. During our single night here, we ate dinner in the sectioned private dining hall with views of the garden and had breakfast in the communal dining hall across the hallway. Past the dining hall is the public onsen and the guest rooms.
With Fudouin being built on the side of a mountain, the walk to our room near the rear of the complex began to turn into a hike as we ascended further up the slope. We actually enjoyed the short hike we had to take to get to our room from the rest of the temple.
Since it was our honeymoon, it seems we were given the nicest room at Fudouin. It was at the very end of the temple at the base of the mountain. The temple has a communal bath for the guests and most of the rooms don’t have one. Fortunately, our room did have our own bath. As much as communal baths are larger and can be an enjoyable social experience, Taylor was still recovering from his ankle injury and preferred having his own bath. The room was large and full of modern conveniences, and we were surprised to have WiFi available there. We didn’t have a private garden here, but we did get a nice view of the mountainside and the small garden behind the room. From the front of the room we could look down towards the dining halls and the rest of the temple area.
One of the best parts of staying at the Fudouin was being able to take part in the morning meditation. When we checked in, we were asked if we wanted to be woken up for them and of course we did. The only downside is that it is rather early in the morning. Our wakeup was around 6 if we remember correctly. After the wakeup call, one of the monks came to bring us to the prayer hall. We sat on a bench with many other guests and waited for the ceremony to start. In front of us was the main shrine and monks flanked the sides, each having a specific role to play. We didn’t know much about Buddhism and weren’t quite sure what to expect. The monks hummed and chanted while a bell chime was rung in timely intervals. Unexpectedly, we eventually got to take part in the meditation as well! One of the monks came over and showed the group of us what we needed to do. One by one each bench went through their part one person at a time. We were given an incense to place in the holder and when it was our turn we walked up to the front of center of the benches and knelt down. We put the incense into the holder and bowed. Then we made it back to our seat. Taylor would have loved to have taken some pictures of the ceremony, or at least of the gorgeous meditation hall, but didn’t think it would be allowed.
Since Fudouin is an active temple with practicing monks, we got to eat like the monks as well. The monks are all vegetarians, so the type of dining provided is called shojin-ryori. It’s similar to kaiseki-ryori, which uses local and seasonal ingredients to create a fantastic multicourse meal, but this kind uses no meat. We were skeptical of the lack of meat, but the food was still very delicious. For our dinner, we were brought into our own private sectioned-off dining area. The walls of the room were gorgeous and intricately painted with murals of mountains. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to write down or see a list of the food we were eating, so we’ll have to let the pictures speak for us.
Just like at a ryokan, our bed was set up while we were at dinner.
The next morning after the meditation we were brought into a large communal dining hall. There each group of guests were served a lovely vegetarian breakfast. We didn’t bring our camera with us since it was after the morning meditation.
Just after our breakfast we had to quickly pack up and leave in order to make it to the station. We had shinkansen tickets from Osaka to Tokyo and could not waste any time. On the way down to Osaka we did get some beautiful views from the train.
This portion of our trip was our greatest regret - not that it was a waste. In fact, it was probably one of our favorite places to visit, but we felt we didn’t spend enough time in Koyasan. With our short time here we didn’t get to explore the town and missed out on a lot of amazing places. We did at least get to visit Okunoin, which was the main reason for coming. One day is not nearly enough, and we surely intend to return here one day, but probably during a different season so the view is different.
Google Maps Link: Fudouin
