24 avril 2008
Koya San
.
At around 7am Mrs. Tani is getting busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. ‘Rita-saaan’ she calls out for me to say goodbye and offer us a souvenir gift: a box of 2 nicely designed chopsticks. I don’t know what to say when faced with such kindness.
Koya San is our next destination. A succession of transportation means is required to get there: we catch a bus, to jump on a train, grab a metro to take another train, and eventually board a cable car that gets us to the famous city. Koya San (Mont Koya) is a raised tableland covered with thick forests and surrounded by eight peaks. The eight peaks are thought to represent the eight petals of a lotus in bloom, which is suggestive of the core mandala with its eight deities arrayed on the eight petals of a lotus.
The major attraction is the monastic complex, which is the headquarters of the Shingon school of Esoteric Buddhism. In the year 804, Kobo Daishi (Kukai) crossed the sea of China in search of Buddhist teachings. In the capital of Tang Dynasty China he received full transmission of a lineage of Buddhism relatively unknown in the Japan of his day called Shingon Buddhism. He returned to Japan in 806 and began teaching. In 816 he was granted permission from the Imperial Court to build a monastic complex deep in the mountains at Mt Koya, isolated from the capital and its distractions. Kobo Daishi lived and taught at Mt Koya for many years until he finally entered into eternal meditation in 835.
Koya San is a superb place to visit, not just for the natural setting of the area but also as an opportunity to stay in temples and get a glimpse of long-held traditions of Japanese religious life.
At our guest house temple, we deposit (get rid of is actually more accurate) our bags and are told to come back at 4, in time for check-in. We have a walk in the cedar tree forest that hosts the Okuno-in, famed cemetery where members of important families from all over Japan want to have their remains buried or at least, a lock of their hair in the care of the …. temple. Statues in many shapes and sizes are scattered along the walking trail and across the woods, sometimes giving an indication whether the deceased was a man, woman or child. Pilgrims are walking with sticks and tingling bells. Close-by lies the bridge Mimyo-no-hashi. Worshippers ladle water from the river and pour it over the nearby Jizo statues as an offering for the dead. Hundreds of thousands of lives are marked and celebrated at this cemetery. The weight of those lives is somehow reflected in the majestic trees and the respectful silence.
On top is the Toro-do (Lantern Hall) where we are led by the delicate smell of Japanese incense. Religious chants fill in the background and our minds. Toro do houses hundreds of lamps, including two believed to have been burning for more than 900 years.
.
Kongobu-Ji is the headquarters of the Shingon school and the residence of Koya-San’s abbot. The name Kongobuji was originally intended to refer to all of Mt Koya and its many subtemples. The original temple at this site was built in 1593. The main hall’s Chiro-ma room has ornate screens painted in the 16th century. The Yanagi-no-ma (Willow room) has equally pretty screen paintings of willows. The rock garden is interesting for the sheer number of rocks used in its composition, giving the effect of a throng of petrified worshippers eagerly listening to a monk sermon.
We wander around in search for a bus, but we seem to miss the very few ones that are still running. Roads are deserted. We try with no avail to stop a car hitchhiking style… some cars stop to help us, but finding out we want a 5 min ride, simply say ‘no, no’ despite their nice smiles and walk away. This looks a bit strange to us. Maybe it’s just not the practice in Japan.
We walk back to our temple guest house at the beginning of town. The attentive monk explains the rules to us (and there are many…) We take a deserved Japanese hot bath that relaxes our feet and senses.
Vegetarian rules are a must in this Buddhist temple. We discover yet a new side of Japanese cuisine but we find it largely tasteless unless you dose well the wasabi.
For the first time since we are in Japan, we sleep early in our little tatami temple room.
.
Tip of the day
Given Koya San’s location, expect temperatures to be significantly lower than in Kyoto.
We stayed at Haryo-In, a temple functioning as guest house. This temple is the only one slightly cheaper than others (6,500¥ per person, dinner and breakfast included, as compared to 10,000¥ for all others). The temple is nothing to write home about (room is basic and dinner is nothing exceptional either). It may be best to stay in more comfortable ones.
One needs to take the bus to go from the station to the city. Don’t take day pass (800¥), as it will not be really used, and there are an average of 2 bus an hour. The city is quite compact anyways.
Must see in Koya San include Kongobuji temple and Okuno-in cemetery.
