Japan Travel: Koyasan and its Pilgrimage Trails, Wakayama 21

Koyasan, located in Wakayama Prefecture, has been a popular pilgrimage destination for centuries. It is connected to the outside world by a network of pilgrimage trails. Though nowadays, most visitors enter the mountain by cable car, many of the pilgrimage trails still exist and are used by hikers who prefer the traditional approach.

The original main approach to Koyasan is by the Koyasan Choishi Michi trail. This trial begins at Kudoyama Station on the Nankai Koya Line. The trail is marked by choishi (stone signposts) which appear every few hundred meters to guide the pilgrims. Though markers are numbered, it is in kanji characters. The numbers are in descending order with number one at Koyasan. These numerals represent the five Buddhist elements: earth, water, fire, air and void. The entire Choishi Michi trail is about 23.5 kilometers long and takes around seven hours to hike. The time may be shortened by two hours if the journey is begun at Kami-Kosawa or by four hours by starting at Kii-Hosokawa Stations. The hiking trail ends at the Daimon Gate, a two story tall, crimson gate that marks the traditional entrance to Koyasan; however, the markers continue on to the Garan.

A less historic approach, the Fudozaka Trail, leads pilgrims to Koyasan from Gokurakubashi Station, the lower station of the Koyasan Cable car. This steep, paved trail is 2.5 kilometers long and the journey takes about an hour to ascend (the descend takes less time). The Fudozaka Trail ends at the Fudozaka-guchi Nyonindo temple hall.

For a more challenging pilgrimage trail, visitors may select the Kohechi Trail, a part of the Kumano Kodo trail network. The Kumano Kodo trail network is an old set of pilgrim trails which connects Koyasan to the sacred shrines of Kumano. The Kohechi Trail is a long and remote mountainous route. The projected journey time is nearly a week and therefore prior planning and equipment is required.

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