Kouya-san - The Garan, Daimon, Kongobu-ji, and Okuno-in cemetery - Sun 13 May

Take and I were tipped off when paying our accommodation bill that the super-photo-op of kids in costumes was a possibility. We found a thin stream on way, and I snapped these two little princesses in their wonky headdresses at Kongobu-ji temple.



We then trundled off to The Garan, the religious and geographical centre of Kouya-san. There is a cluster of impressive buildings there, including the massive orange Konpondaito pagoda.


Inside is the cosmic buddha and friends. A photo of a picture book, as you can't photograph inside.


No access inside the huge Kondo Hall. Note the scale of the monk in black, bottom left.


Take found a pooch twin on the grounds.


The bell tower was the most beautiful I've seen so far.


We then walked up to Daimon, 'Big Gate'. Bottom left and right are two guard statues.


They be ugly.


We walked to spend an hour or so inside Reihokan Hall, a religious "treasure museum" with statues and paintings, as well as centuries-old scriptures, garments and artifacts. The items were interesting, but the detailed item information and backgrounds was only written in Japanese, and the English would be something along the lines of '[unfamiliar Japanese word] with [unfamiliar Japanese word]'. Without context, they were just pretty things, so not a recommended site to visit for non-Japanese.

Another walk back for a look inside Kongobu-ji temple. They have room after room of exquisitely painted wall-to-wall screen doors with different themes in each room, inspired by nature and by the history of Kouya-san's founder. It's forbidden to photograph them. This one, below, is a broom cupboard in comparison, but photo, OK.

In one of the rooms, according to my guide book, one of the most famous men of Japanese history, warlord and regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi, committed seppuku, or ritual disembowelment. A very interesting discussion of the practice is published on wikipedia, here.

Inside Kongobu-ji temple is a spectacular example of Japanese rock gardens. One angle, below. The guide book hyped up taking tea alongside the garden, but unfortunately, you really don't get to see the garden from the tea room. Naughty guide book.


After lunch, Take and I caught a taxi to Okuno-in, an immense Buddhist graveyard where all the best Buddhists want to hang out when they're dead. You can see why.


This rocket ship grave marker, I could not interpret.


A memorial from a pesticide company to the millions of Japanese white ants (termites) whose murders sit on the company's Buddhist conscience.


I hope you don't find your picture here, amidst Japanese dead Buddhist Guess-Who. "Do they have black hair?" flick, flick, flick, flick, ...


One of the dress-up statues, this one with full makeup, fashion bib and beanie.


In the graveyard is the Miroku-ishi, a small boulder which you try to lift onto a shelf with one hand. The weight is meant to vary according to the sin of the lifter. Embarrassingly, I found it too heavy to lift single handedly. Take is also a bad person.


The faithful ladle water over these statues as an offering to the dead.


No photography was permitted inside the Tourou-dou, or Great Lantern Hall (an inside picture). Its ceilings were covered by dimly glowing lanterns, the sense of stillness strengthened by a single monk chanting without rest. Below is my blurry photograph of a book photograph - second best option.


Beneath the Tourou-dou is a subterranean miniature statue hall, with over 50,000 statues of Kouya-san's founders in racks, each numbered and named for the donor.

An old man outside in a souvenir stall confirmed that we'd seen all there was to see. He had five gold front teeth, and was very friendly.

Kath Day-Night would kill for this woman's strawberry-themed cardigan suit. Worth a click for closer inspection. Take advised that photographs like this were the reason I couldn't lift the Miroku-ishi boulder.


On the way out of the cemetery is this enormous mountain of jizo statues.


We bought some of Kouya-san's specialty food, sesame tofu, as a gift for Take's mum, before heading back to Wakayama. On the bus, we spotted Sally, the lovely Aussie who'd been living in Kyoto for ten years, that I first met over morning tea at the temple lodgings. Take seemed to have a much easier time understanding her English than mine. Maybe Auntie Bill has been right after all, about my speaking being hard to hear.

From the bus, we all hopped on the cable car for the descent.


While waiting for our connection at Hashimoto, Take told me of the frustration he'd had in Sydney trying to order a VB at pubs, which, with the Japanese, accent, comes out something like "Bui-bii." After the umpteenth "What?" he would say to himself, "I'm bloody saying VB!"「ブイビーって言ってやろっ！」

Back in Wakayama, we headed out for Japan's version of Indian. This was the biggest, bubbliest naan bread I've ever seen.