Let’s visit Mount Kōya (高野山) this time, located in Wakayama prefecture, a world Heritage.

It is a mystic mountain with a rich history. Kūkai, also known with the title of Kōbō-daishi he obtained after death, made this mountain the place of his trainings and the headquarters of the Buddhist Shingon sect (真言宗) he founded in the Heian period.

Also nowadays many people come here to pray.

What’s special about Mount Kōya?

Kōya mountain preserves many treasures which are considered World Heritages by UNESCO.

The most famous one is the Kongōbuji temple.

In this tranquil forest there’s a mild atmosphere in every season.

In the Oku-no-in (奥の院) area there’s plenty of graves, you can also see those who belong to noblemen and daimyō feudal lords.

The central zone is where Tokugawa family’s tombstones are located, here is the resting place of Ieyasu, Iemitsu and Hidetada.

How to get to Mount Kōya

Click here to know how to get to Mount Kōya.

Impressions

While leaving the vivid, urbanized Ōsaka to reach Mount Kōya, we felt like escaping the modern world.

After departing from Namba station, the train entered after a while in an idyllic landscape: we suddenly got into the woods and then on the top of the mountain.

Mount Kōya’s ambiance depends on the time of the year, but we have been there in every season and it is always a wonderful place.

Spring’s air is refreshed by just-bloomed flowers and the leaves have incredible colors in Autumn.

Even the snow make of mount Kōya a beautiful place.

Oku-no-in is wrapped into a mysterious atmosphere: the contrast of Kongōbu-ji’s vermilion red and white snow is very charming.

There, we were lucky to meet training monks doing their ascetic practice in the forest, I was touched by their devotion.