[WAKAYAMA] The Koyasan Daytrip

I looked at my prefecture map of Kansai and noticed that there are prefectures quite accessible to and from Osaka that haven’t been visited yet. I don’t blame myself, though, because this whole “visit every prefecture” is a new thing, fuelled by my intention to maximize my multiple entry Japan visa before it expires in March next year. One of those prefectures was Wakayama. I usually just visit the namesake city when there isn’t much to see, but Wakayama offered an alternative in the form of a Buddhist mountain retreat called Koyasan. Ok, then. Let’s go there instead for some soul searching and relaxation!

Should you decide to do a daytrip of Koyasan, the next dilemma is not whether you should get a Koyasan World Heritage ticket – which you should because the cost of your RT train ride to and from Osaka alone already covers the entire amount of the ticket – but rather whether you should get the digital type or the paper ticket. What’s the difference? The paper ticket costs JPY 3,540 (~PHP1,400) while the digital ticket costs just JPY3,140 (~PHP1,240). The difference can buy you a Gyudon bowl from Yoshinoya, you know. The problem is that the digital ticket requires internet connection, and I didn’t have mobile data.

As such, it was kind of a hassle. Once activated, the train ticket shows you a QR code with a running timer. This is not an issue at Namba station because you can just connect at McDonald’s WiFi. There is no barrier for a separate ticket inspection at the cable car station so no need to worry about that. When you get off the cable car, the internet connection at Koyasan Station is accessible AFTER the turnstile so my QR code didn’t work because I didn’t have an internet connection. The guy at the gate just gave me a signed paper so I can claim the day pass for the bus which is also free in the ticket.

You can still activate the day pass before you hop on the bus. The station has WiFi access anyway. You can also opt to just tap your Visa credit card because the buses there accept that, too. Overall I’d hazard a guess that I saved more than a thousand yen with this ticket, considering I used the buses at Koyasan three times which is already around JPY600 (~PHP240) and the RT cable car tickets if bought separately are another JPY1,000 (~PHP400). The World Heritage ticket also gives you discounts to some of the attractions, but then again some of them don’t have WiFi so you wouldn’t be able to activate the digital ticket before entry.

My first stop was the Reihokan Museum for everything Buddhism. They have a good collection of intimidating life-sized sculptures and scrolls. The problem with this is some of them only have facts in Japanese on the description boards. The place is air-conditioned which makes it a good stop to relax and just refresh from the heat outside. The entrance fee went down to JPY1,100 (~PHP440) after I was able to show a saved screenshot of the World Heritage Ticket. That’s the only admission fee I paid for this trip, to be fair.

Taking advantage of the bus system if you have a day pass is ideal. The thing is, there aren’t so many of them and the intervals are inconvenient. I ended up walking to Danjo Garan, which wasn’t bad because it was just around the corner. I’d say that this was the highlight of the trip. It is a collection of old houses, temples, and pagodas. If you are just after the Insta pics, then this place would suffice because there is a lot of different color palettes to choose from, whether the brown of the creepy old house to the west, the bright orange of the pagoda with a giant Buddha inside, or the red of the small bridge over the pond in the east.

If you are Buddhist and would like to worship inside the orange pagoda, you have to pay an admission fee, which is also discounted with the World Heritage Ticket. I didn’t because I no longer went inside. Taking photos there was prohibited and I’m not Buddhist anyway, so what’s the point? Loitering in the premises is already a feast for the eyes. Honestly, it looks like a small village on its own and while the horde of tourists could multiply fast, you could always find a secluded spot somewhere that you can call your own.

After this, I managed to hop on a bus to Okunuin cemetery which is far away in the east but a mere 15 minutes by bus. I guess this is what I really missed from visiting under time pressure. The place is a cemetery containing everything from modern tombstones with accompanying sculptures to those old stone-on-stone thingies that evoke a mystical vibe that I just can’t explain. The place is an odd mix of gray and green and the occasional red, and I saw on a map how vast the area it covers is. It would have been nice to explore the place for two to three hours. Unfortunately, I only had 30 minutes to spare.

Just retrace your steps going back to Osaka. Activating the return ticket is not an issue because there is WiFi access before the turnstile at Koyasan Station. The glitch for me was that the ticket from Osaka that morning was still running because I technically didn’t tap it on the QR reader going out. The workaround is simple, just go to that side and tap the QR there before activating your return ticket to tap at the QR reader at the entrance. Problem solved. I highly recommend Koyasan if you ever get tired of the hustle and bustle of the big city. It’s accessible from Osaka and you can defo get some peace of mind there.

[WAKAYAMA] The Koyasan Daytrip

[KANSAI] Budget and Itinerary (3)