Nara– category –

This is a place of Shugendo opened by practitioners in a mountain. The shukubo serves as a youth hostel in which you share rooms with other people.The head priest and his wife are very frank. When I stayed there, We talked about a lot of things and took pictures together to commemorate the stay.

Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji temple is an old temple, which is said to have been founded by Prince Shotoku (574 to 622). Senju-in is the oldest among all the temples here. The shukubo is famous for its shojin vegetarian cuisine called Teppatsu, which was very delicious.

I took a taxi cab from Oji Station. It took about 15 minutes to the parking place below Gyokuzo-in. It was a clean and modern facility and the shukubo staff welcomed me politely. The morning religious service starts from 3:00 in the Yokuyu-do followed by the Goma prayer from a little past five in the morning.

Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji temple is an old temple, which is said to have been founded by Prince Shotoku (574 to 622). Jyohuku-in is located in the precinct mountain. You are free to participate in the services. They serve quasi-shojin cuisine in a kaiseki course style.

This temple is located in Yoshino which prospered as a sacred place of Shugendo. This is a youth hostel, but I was able to have the room all to myself because there were not so many guests when I stayed there in the beginning of June. I had meals upstairs with the other guests.

This is a shukubo located near Kinpusen-ji Zao-do temple. I walked the Yoshino/Omine route. I participated in a Rengenyubu event (to enter Mount Omine with a religious purpose) sponsored by Kinpusen-ji temple, therefore it was training and not sightseeing.

This shukubo is located in Yoshino, which has been registered as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gunpoen garden is a kind of pond garden and is said to have been built by Sen-no-Rikyu. As for the meals, they serve kaiseki course meals including sweetfish, tofu and buckwheat noodles, etc. I was quite full after the dinner.

This is a shukubo in Yoshino where the history of Shugendo remains. Meetings of shakyo and shabutsu (copying of sutra and images of Buddha by hand) are held on the second Saturday of each month. They also schedule and conduct training at Okugake in Yoshino several times a year.