Mt. Koya Cemetary
After the morning prayer service, and the ample breakfast, we headed out for the Mt. Koya cemetary. Supposedly, there are over 10,000 grave markers as well as amazing sculptural masterpieces. There was an auditory tour available, but we forgot to pick it up, so instead we got to wander around exploring on our own. At the end of the 2 km walk there is a shrine/temple which is quite impressive.
We walked back into town seeking lunch and ended up in a pretty little cafe run by this wonderful young couple. The lady was french and the man was japanese, and their baby was…ADORABLE. Just a little devil, getting into everything. Anyways, the man was playing music on a chinese violin, see picture below and that was what drew us into the cafe.
Along with serving crepes and coffee-they also had an assortment of handicrafts for sale. Some exquisite pieces of timiku style pottery!!! I wish I could have afforded to buy a piece. Instead we settled for crepes (yum-I got rasberry and Dennis got a chipatti style curry crepe) and coffee. We chatted with the couple about living in Mt. Koya and they were both so wonderful to talk with.
In the afternoon, we both visited the Onsen and had dinner. Another masterpiece of a meal! Then we went back to the graveyard for a nightly tour. It was neat because all the lanterns were lit, and it had a completely different feel to it.
I’m glad we went first in daylight so we could see everything. One thing that detracted from the night trip was the bright halogen lamps they had in addition to the lanterns-those were so artificially bright, it kinda messed up the unearthly mysterious feel to the place.
June 5th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
The prayer service was interesting to watch. Lots of chanting by the monks, interspersed with some gong ringing and symbol crashing.
The cemetary is a very interesting experience. Amazing density of tombstones (over 200,000, actually) in just a couple of square miles, maybe less. The art work on the tombs was varied, but with certain themes recurring.
There’s an audio-guide available at the local toursit office. We didn’t get it, but in hind sight we should have.
Returning to the cemetary at night is also neat, as the ancient lanterns are all light up along the pathway. Sadly, some very modern flourescent lights are also there, spoiling the dark serenity. Still, I’m glad we walked the path again that night. By now, the rain had stopped and the walk was nice.
The meal at Shojoshin-in had some different dishes, and was again delicious.
The town of Koya is nice to stroll around in, too. There are a few other tourist attractions to see.