Okunoin Cemetary

After breakfast, we checked out and left our bags at reception and walked to Okunoin, a cemetery on the eastern end of town. The cemetery was beautiful, green, and peaceful. We strolled around, checked out the shrines, tombstones, and statues. One of the more interesting things we saw were structures (I'm not sure if they were actual graves) with corporate logos on them, including Panasonic and Nissan. Do they bury their retirees here? I even heard Japanese visitors sniggering as they walked past these structures.

After Okunoin, we walked out to the main road, hailed a bus back to the center of town, ate some lunch, collected our bags, and then made our way back to Osaka and onward to Nagoya.

I really enjoyed Koyasan. It is a beautiful and atmospheric place, and it seemed to attract mostly younger, independent travelers seeking to immerse themselves in this spiritual place. We didn't see any large groups of tourists. I suspect this place isn't on the main tourist trail because it takes some effort to get there, and also because there aren't large hotels or restaurants that can handle large tour groups.

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