Golden Week, Mountemplefest 2010 Day 3: If KFC sponsors my shrine maybe I’ll be cooked with 11 herbs and spices instead of being cremated.
Although I am not the first of my kind to make the trek to Koyasan (高野山) but I would that out of the two (or three) of us, I am probably the sexiest (even if he is also juicy). You might say “it’s just another temple” but I can say to you that you’re just another organism whose anus comes first and I can’t tell the difference between you and a sea urchin (so there!). Now be quiet and gaze longingly at the shiny pictures.
Let’s go on a magical journey!
Koyasan is, roughly, separated into three mostly distinct areas: the main temple area (Danjogaran [壇上伽藍] and Kongobu-ji [金剛峰寺]), the town of Koya, and Okunoin (奥之院). When you say it like this, it might seem like the area is quite large, but it’s only 2930 Tokyo domes. This number is wildly incorrect since it’s the whole area that’s called Koya, not the area of the town itself (maybe 5 or 6 sq km?).
While the temples are the usual Japanese style of Buddhist temple the important part here is the history, even though it’s now little more than a sightseeing spot with fake airbenders; the founder, Kukai, was one of the influential buddhist priests in the government. Since it’s probably more interesting to look at the architectural accomplishments than the political achievements of someone who died almost 1200 years ago they really don’t give you too much information about Kukai.
Nonetheless, the temples are quite beautiful and are worth visiting, especially Danjogaran, which is a great pagoda to enter even if you can’t take any pictures. Situated inside this pagoda is many buddhist statues and, for some unstated reason, many Japanese coins set on their edge. I’d love to know why people do this; maybe Buddha will tell me before I shiv him.
On the other side of the town is Okunoin (奥之院), this is where Kukai’s (decomposed) body lies. Because he is considered holy and, thus, revered by many the area surrounding the temple has become the largest cemetery in Japan. Being Japan, this means that it isn’t 100% what you would expect from other countries, among the regular monuments are some strange ones; Shingon has a smaller following than other types of buddhism in Japan, but it’s large enough to attract many large companies to build their own little areas; as expected this leads to very strange, but interesting, pictures (if you follow me on twitter you saw the yogurt one). Oh yeah, they also numbered some of the trees there, another thing I wish I understood the reason why.
Like the cool temple with all of the coins standing on end (Danjogaran), Okunoin is also so sacred that they don’t allow you to steal any photons for later viewings. While I understand their reasoning (and I’m not that much of an ass to take pictures when told I’m not allowed), I still find it annoying that you can’t take pictures in some temples but in places right next to them everyone is clicking away care-free. Maybe I’ll depose the emperor and take his place; that seems like the easiest way to change this rule.
Another interesting thing that I couldn’t take any pictures of (but someone broke the rules slightly) is the mirokuishi (弥勒石 miroku stone). It’s a stone in this little cage that people are supposed to use their arm(s) to push a stone up a ledge. It is said that everyone can lift it except for evil people and patent examiners.
Overall, although it’s out of the way for almost everyone Koyasan is a great place to go. When you come visit Japan (Do you know why I said when? Because if you don’t people you love will start dying. Really. Wait 50 years and see what happens if you don’t come visit at least once. telling you that you should really go visit because there’s so many great things to see and they even have some white people!) I recommend that you put it on your list of places to go.
