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General information
| Destination |
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| Osaka, Japan |
Program details
Learn about Buddhism with one of our guides on a day trip from Osaka.
Our government-licensed and experienced multilingual guides will help you efficiently enjoy a one-day tour of UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, Mt. Koya. Go on a full-day guided walking tour of Mt. Koya and learn about the modern and traditional aspects of one of the world’s most sacred mountains!
If you are staying in Osaka but would like to take some time out to enjoy some sights outside the big city, then this tour of Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture is for you! Meet your guide at your hotel (in Osaka, Kyoto, Wakayama, or around the Kansai area), then head to Mount Koya.
Your guide will customize your full-day tour in detail according to your interests.
- Please select your must-see spots from a list in the tour information to create your customized itinerary.
- The National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter certification is issued by the Japanese government requires a good knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture and history.
Tour Highlight
Koyasan Okunoin
The heart of Mt. Koya. Kobo Daishi (Kukai), the founder of Shingon Buddhism and one of the most revered persons in the religious history of Japan, rests here. Also, many prominent personalities' graves line by the approach to Okunoin for several hundred meters through the forest. Your guide will explain interesting stories about those historical characters.
Kongobu-ji Temple
The main headquarters for the Shingon Sect, which has 4,000 temples throughout Japan and more than 10 million followers worldwide. Visitors can see religious artifact, fusuma sliding door paintings, as well as a beautiful rock garden representing two dragons flying amongst the clouds.
Koyasan Danjo Garan
One of the two most sacred sites in Mt. Koya. In the 9th century, Mt. Koya was founded on this very ground. At that time, Kobo Daishi held a groundbreaking ceremony and then dedicated his life to the construction of Danjo Garan. This sacred area consists of nearly twenty different structures including the magnificent Konpon Daito. Your guide will tell you the meaning of these structures.
Reihokan Museum
The Reihokan Museum (霊宝館, Reihōkan) was built to house and preserve the religious and cultural treasures of Koyasan. The museum's entrance hall is styled after Byodoin Temple in Uji, and it has three exhibition halls for both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Daishi Kyokai
Daishi Kyokai (大師教会, Daishi Kyōkai) is the administrative center of Shingon Buddhism, and is responsible for spreading the teachings of Kobo Daishi, the sect's founder. The complex consists of two buildings: Henjoden, a traditional temple hall, that was built in 1915 and is dedicated to Kobo Daishi, and a modern building for administration, lectures and training.
Tokugawa Mausoleum
The Tokugawa Mausoleum (徳川家霊台, Tokugawa-ke Reidai) on Koyasan was built in 1643 by the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu in order for his family to have a mausoleum close to Kobo Daishi's mausoleum. It consists of two buildings which enshrine Iemitsu's grandfather Ieyasu and father Hidetada, the first two Tokugawa shogun.
Important information
As this is a walking tour, you will be collected from your hotel by your guide and continue on foot.