This past weekend Mariel, Corinne, and I went to 高山 (Mt. Koya), the home of Shingon Buddhism. Koyasan is the final destination on one of the most famous pilgramidge routes in Japan, the Kumano kodo, which leads all around Wakayama prefecture and into Mie. I had been to many of the most famous temples on this route, and hiked part of the trail with some of my middle school students, but had never been to the final destination, Koyasan. After studying Mt. Koya, and Shingon Buddhism in some of my college classes, I was anxiously awaiting a chance to go. As an added bonus, Koyasan is famous in Wakayama for another reason, it is one of the few places that gets fairly consistent snowfall. After a 4 hour train ride up twisting, turning mountain tracks I was a bit dissapointed to find only bits of snow here and there. But by the time we were off the cable car, small but consistent snowflakes were falling.
Koya town is accesible by only by cable car, and has over 100 temples but little else. We hurried in for a quick lunch of noodles and tofu and huddled around the kerosene heater heater with the few other people in the restraunt. There is something about the mountains that makes me feel more comfortable, no matter what country I'm in. They just feel more homey. Koyasan was no different. After some warm food and free chocolate we set off in th sow to see a few of the many many temples in Koya town. All of the temples already had snow starting to pile on the rooftops and steps. We saw some of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen in Japan, scattered throughout forests of cedar trees. The scenery was beautiful, but after walking around in the cold for a few hours we were all frozen.Many of the smaller temples allow visitors to stay the night and observe morning meditation. It costs an arm and a leg, but its worth it. We got to our temple at about 4, and saw we had a huge tatami room to ourselves. We sat around the kotatsu (heated table) and got served our vegetarian dinners. Koya san is pretty much the only place in Japan where you dont have to explain the concept of a vegetarian. All the monks are vegetarian too! Most of our dinner was small servings of Japanese pickled vegetables of tofu, but ours dinners took up two trays per person! That night we slept with only paper thin doors as a barrier against the snow falling outside.
We woke up for the 6AM morning meditation and prayer, which (thankfully) we could observe rather than participate in. I can assure you, what we did participate in, we thouroughly messed up, but also really enjoyed. After the service the monks were jolly and eager to practice English. We had another huge vegetarian meal for breakfast with the few other guests, the monks, and the monk's cat.
After we left the temple that morning the snow really started coming down, and a think blanket of snow covered the entire town. When we arrived at the opening to the cemetary, set amongst huge cedar trees, we were absolutley in awe. It looked like a fairy tale. The snow poured down, landing on all the trees and statues. It was the most beautiful place in Japan I have ever been. We were so happy about it all we didnt even mind that we were freezing and the snow soaked through our shoes. After walking around the forest for a few hours we reluctantly left for the long train ride home and work the next day. It was not only one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, but also one of the most fun trips I have taken.
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