Staying
A shukubo room is tatami with a futon, sliding paper screens and usually a shared bath. Dinner is shojin ryori — Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, entirely plant-based, served on lacquer trays in a set sequence, and far better than that description suggests.
Morning service starts around 06:00 and guests are welcome rather than obliged. Some temples add a fire ritual, the goma, which is worth setting an alarm for. Doors are often locked by 21:00.
Okunoin after dark
The two-kilometre approach to Kobo Daishi's mausoleum runs through cedar forest and past something like 200,000 graves and memorials — warlords, poets, company employees, and a surprising number of corporate monuments.
Walk it at night, when the stone lanterns are lit and the crowds have gone. Several temples run guided night walks. Photography is not permitted past the Gobyobashi bridge at the far end.
Getting there
- Nankai line from Osaka Namba to Gokurakubashi, then a funicular, then a bus. Around two hours total.
- Book well ahead — Koya-san has limited beds and fills in autumn.
- It is high and cold. Bring a layer more than you think, in any season.
Of everything on this site, this is the one that most reliably changes how people think about the trip.