Kōyasan is right in the heart of Wakayama and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We got to this remote area after a long trip by train and funicular.

Shingon Buddhism was founded here way back in 805. Today, alongside loads of temples, it’s also home to Japan’s biggest cemetery. You can even stay the night in a monastery, with vegetarian monk food and group prayers thrown in.

The place is massive and pretty much impossible to cover in just an afternoon. It definitely deserves its own blog post. For today, a few photos will have to do for a first impression.

We got back to the hotel way too late. Tomorrow we’re off to the second-to-last stop on our trip: Kyōto.