Though it's called Koyasan (meaning Mount Koya), it isn't exactly one mountain so much as a collection of hills and mountains, each one having long and detailed histories. As such, we only saw a couple places. The first stop was at a place called Jison-in, the starting place for the faithful who embark on a pilgrimage of the many many temples here. It was famous for being the temple for the mother of Kukai, the founder of the Shingon sect. As women were not allowed to visit the temples ahead, Kukai had her mother stay at Jison-in, and would visit her several times a month. In time, it became known as a women's temple, where prayers for children and families are offered.
Here's an example of prayers that people write on small planks that are offered by priests.
On the grounds sits a large fountain in the shape of a lotus blossom. I asked Brother Suzuki (who had come with us on the trip) why the lotus blossom is so prominent in Buddhism. He replied that one reason could be that despite the fact that the plant begins its life in the scummy quagmire on the bottom of a pond, it can blossom into one of the most beautiful flowers. It is essentially the symbol of human potential.
After this we drove up the road to our next destination, which was an area called Okuno-in, the largest graveyard in Japan. It is said that there are over 200,000 grave markers in this area acting at remembrances for everyone from the rich, powerful, and influential to the commonest of folk. It was a reverent place as we walked down the path. Despite hearing about it, arriving there still took my breath away. There were so many graves.
The stone torii gate in front of the tombstone acts as the border to the sacrosanct crypt within.
Many of the grave markers bore a similar pattern in construction. They consisted of Five stones stacked one atop another, with the five elements etched into them (in ascending order from the bottom stone: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void). Though most of the markers in this pattern bore the Buddhist lettering for such, this one here had them in kanji.
As we walked down the path we found grave markers for many notable individuals in Japanese history. Here are the graves for several of the Tokugawa family members (the leaders of Japan from the 1600's until 1868).
We also saw a grave marker for Oda Nobunaga, who first attempted to unite Japan under one rule following the turbulent centuries of civil war during the Middle Ages. He was, in a way, the spiritual predecessor to the Tokugawa shogunate and is a central figure to Japanese history.
Notice that I said it was a grave marker, not the grave marker for Nobunaga. He actually has a mausoleum all to himself elsewhere in Koyasan; this is just a marker for him in Okuno-in. As it turns out, the location of the remains (which have almost always been cremated in Japan) is less important than having a marker there for them. In that sense, calling them grave markers is a bit misleading. There are even markers for companies.
They also make memorials for groups of people, such as this one, which is for the Japanese Marines who died during World War II.
The price to have your memory enshrined in this graveyard is astronomical. Currently the most expensive lot is rented for over $200,000 a year. In the past, however, faithful devotees who didn't have the coin to buy a grave marker instead planted a tree for their gravestone. These trees, which now cover the entire area, are gigantic cedars, stretching a hundred feet or more into the sky. They probably have a circumference approaching 10 feet around.
I got the chance to learn about a phenomenon I had noticed before in other places but until now had no one to ask. I found small statues scattered along the trail that had what looked like bibs on them. Some were hardly more than rocks with cloth strapped on.
I was surprised (and a bit sobered) at the answer I was given, though. These are representations of Jizou, a deity with stewardship over children, particularly children who die before their parents (either through accident, being stillborn, or as is now often the case, through abortion). The bibs are gifts from grieving parents asking Jizou to protect their children's spirits, as they didn't have the opportunity to gain experience in life.
As we were exiting the grounds, I was surprised to see three Korean graves. In contrast to the Japanese custom of cremation and small stone markers for graves, the Koreans bury their dead in grass-covered mounds on hillsides. Whether these here in Koyasan were representative of Korean Buddhist adherents as a whole or were for specific Korean patrons, I'm not sure, but I was impressed that they were enshrined in such a thoroughly Japanese location.
By this point we were approaching lunchtime, so we got back in the car and drove over to a small Buddhist hostel of sorts called shukubou. They are used as lodgings for visitors at a temple, and in old times one could live there while spending time at the temple. Nowadays it's a way to experience life in a Buddhist manner. For us, that meant shoujin-ryouri. It's the word for Buddhist cuisine, and since non-violence is a key precept in Buddhism, that means strictly vegetarian. Despite the lack of meat, the meal was quite delicious (save for a couple rather...interesting dishes) and gorgeously prepared and delivered.
Now, had this been any other weekend we might have gone back out to look at more stuff, but I had to get back stat, as I had a ticket for the shinkansen to Tokyo, and I was not about to miss out on the rest of the weekend with Uncle Doug, Aunt Chikako and family. More on that leg of the trip soon!
Fascinating!
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