Within the incredible Shingon Buddhist mountaintop complex of Koyasan, about fifty temples function as shukubo, temples which provide overnight accommodations and meals for visitors. Shukubo also offer the opportunity to take part in the life of the religious community. This may involve joining i...
Within the incredible Shingon Buddhist mountaintop complex of Koyasan, about fifty temples function as shukubo, temples which provide overnight accommodations and meals for visitors. Shukubo also offer the opportunity to take part in the life of the religious community. This may involve joining i...
Within Koyasan, the most sacred spot in mind of most faithful is the resting place of founder Koba Daishi. In 835, according to believers, he passed into nirvana and awaits the coming of Maitreya, the Future Buddha in a state of eternal meditation.
The entrance to Okunoin is marked by the Ichi-n...
Visitors to Koyasan will enter through the massive Daimon, or great gate. The 25 meter high vermillion gate was built in 1705, replacing an earlier structure. On either side of the gate, five-meter tall statues of the Nio guardians, also called the Kongo-rikishi, prevent demons and thieves from ga...
Kobo Daishi chose Koyasan largely for its topography. Eight peaks, suggesting the eight petals of a lotus, surround the valley. In fact, the entire valley of Koyasan stands at the center of an enormous mandala covering the mountain and, by extension, all of Japan. And the Konpon Daito, the “Funda...
Kongobuji Temple, or the Temple of the Diamond Mountain, is the head temple of Shingon Buddhism, brought to Japan by Kobo Daishi in 805. The name Kongobuji originally referred to the entire Koyasan complex, but in 1593 Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered a new temple built in memory of his mother. In 1868 ...
The story of Mikimoto Island is really the story of Mikimoto Kokichi, who pioneered the production of cultured pearls. Born the eldest son of an udon noodle maker in the Shima Peninsula’s town of Toba, Mikimoto developed a childhood passion for pearls after seeing the famous pearl diving “Pearl Mai...
Each year six and a half million Japanese travel to the Shima Peninsula east of Osaka to visit what amounts to the Mecca of the native Shinto faith. The Isejingu, or Ise Shrine, is actually an enormous complex, including the Geku, or Outer Shrine, the Naiku, or Inner Shrine, and 123 smaller assoc...
In 745 the Emperor Shomu ordered that an enormous statue of the Buddha Vairocana be built to protect the capital of Nara and its people from plagues and natural disasters. It seems his plan failed. The capital was moved to Kyoto just 49 years later and in coming centuries the statue itself, called...
Nara’s Kasuga Taisha (Grand Shrine) is widely regarded as one of Japan’s “Three Great Shrines.” As at Ise, the Shrine’s four inner sanctuaries are set within an enclosure, inaccessible to the public. But the Shrine is worth a visit both for the dramatic approach lined with 2,000 stone lanterns don...
Though it’s not much to look at after Todaiji, Gangoji has an impressive history. Originally built in Asuka and relocated to Nara when the city became the capital in 710, Gangoji (or at least its predecessor in Asuka) is one of Japan’s oldest Buddhist temples.
Gangoji once had extensive grounds,...
In 680, Emperor Temmu ordered a great temple to be built as a prayer for the recovery of his ill wife. When he died eight years later, she had regained her health and as the new Empress Jito took on the task of finishing the temple, to be called Yakushiji. It was dedicated in 697, in the short-liv...
Kofukuji is another Nara landmark that did a bit of traveling before coming to rest in the city. Serving as both the head temple of the Hosso sect of Buddhism and as the clan temple of the powerful Fujiwara clan, Kofukuji was first built in Yamashina (part of modern Kyoto) in 669, then moved to Fuj...
Nara Tokae Festival Started in 1999, what the Nara Tokae Festival lacks in history it more than makes up for in visual impact. For ten nights in August, tens of thousands of candle lanterns are lit across the city. Hanging from bridges, lining the paths to the city’s shrines and temples, and even se...
The Sara kimono rental shop is in Nara-machi, the city’s picturesque southern district with a wealth of traditional shops and townhouses. For 2,500 yen you can rent a yukata, the casual summer garment, or a more formal kimono for 3,000 yen. It takes about half an hour to get fully dressed and deck...
