Okunoin, Three Times Visited, Koya, Japan

Okunoin (奥の院) is Japan's largest cemetery, with about 200,000 tombstones along a 2-kilometer stretch. At the end of this stretch is the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, the father of Shingon Buddhism.

My trips (abroad or anywhere for that matter) usually do not involve a visit to a cemetery (except, maybe, when the trip is to one's hometown during All Souls Day). Sure, I read about Okunoin-it didn't look too interesting-but because it is one of Koyasan's two most sacred sites (the other one is Garan), I added it to my itinerary. To be visited if time permits.

It never crossed my mind to visit a cemetery at night. By myself, at that. But why in the world did I go? Because the guesthouse staff suggested so. And I never questioned why.

In the gloaming, I put on my jacket and started my journey to the unknown cemetery. I entered Okunoin at the newer approach, which is just a few minutes' walk from the guesthouse, near the last bus stop. This approach would cut the distance to the mausoleum in half.

The pathway was lit by stone lanterns. For the first hundred meters or so. After that, the lanterns were few and far between and I had to use my smartphone's flashlight app to light the way. I encountered three or four people (were they really people? Or ghosts? Haha!) but they were going in the opposite direction, towards the cemetery exit. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).