Koyasan temple stay (shukubo): booking, prices and rules

Book a Koyasan temple stay (shukubo) through the Koyasan Shukubo Association’s booking site, or by phone on 0736-56-2616. One temple’s two-meal plan, Fugen-in, costs $90 (¥14,000) to $140 (¥22,000) per adult, with vegetarian meals. Every temple sets its own check-in, curfew and cancellation terms, so Fugen-in’s figures are an example, not the mountain’s range.

Shukubo is lodging at a Koyasan temple. Koyasan, in Wakayama, is Kukai’s mountain, with the Okunoin cemetery and the temples that take guests. This guide draws on the plan pages of two, Fugen-in and Kodai-in. At Fugen-in a stay runs from an afternoon check-in through dinner, a shared bath, the morning prayer and breakfast to a morning check-out. Dollar figures use about ¥155 to US$1 and are rounded; you pay in yen, so check the rate.

The mountain’s sights are covered in the Nara, Osaka, Koyasan and Ise guide, and this page is part of the Culture hub.

How does booking work?

Use the association’s booking site or its office. The Koyasan Shukubo Association runs the booking site, and its plan pages are in English. By phone, call 0736-56-2616 (+81 736 56 2616 from abroad) or fax 0736-56-2889. The office is at 49 Koyasan. The association’s older site address shows a maintenance notice and redirects to the booking site, so use the booking site.

Each temple lists its own plans, and a plan page shows the price, meals and terms. Fugen-in and Kodai-in set different terms, so read before you book:

1. Open the association’s booking site and choose a temple. To see the Mandoe-e lantern ceremony, build the stay around 1 to 3 October.
2. Read its plan page for the price, meals, check-in window, curfew and cancellation terms.
3. Look up your own dates, because prices vary by date.
4. Book on the site, or phone the office.
5. Confirm the check-in time with the temple.
6. Arrive before 18:00 if you want dinner at Fugen-in.

What does a temple stay cost?

Fugen-in lists $90 (¥14,000) to $140 (¥22,000) per adult for its two-meal plan. The price includes tax and excludes the bath tax. The page calls these minimum prices that vary by date, so look up your own dates rather than planning around the low end.

Child rates are set by each temple, and Kodai-in’s are listed below.

The amount of the bath tax is not found, so add it on top of the listed price. One temple’s range is not the mountain’s, so do not use it as an average in a budget.

What are the check-in and check-out times?

Times vary by temple, and Kodai-in’s are listed below. Fugen-in lists check-out from 07:00 to 09:00, and gives its check-in window twice with different answers: 15:00 to 19:00 in one place and 15:00 to 17:30 in its notes. Ask the temple which applies before you book a late train.

What food is served?

Meals are vegetarian, the temple cuisine known as shojin ryori. The two-meal plan at Fugen-in covers dinner, listed at 17:30 or from 18:00 to 19:00, and breakfast, from 07:30 to 08:30 after the morning service.

For vegetarian eating outside a temple, see Vegetarian and vegan in Japan.

What does a night at Fugen-in look like?

Fugen-in’s plan page sets the pace of a stay with the times below; they are one temple’s schedule.

Before you book Compare cancellation terms before you choose a temple. Fugen-in charges 30% four days ahead, 50% two days ahead and 100% one day ahead; ask Kodai-in or any other temple for theirs.

How does Kodai-in differ?

Kodai-in’s plan page lists these terms, and they differ from Fugen-in’s:

• Check-in and check-out: check-in from 15:00 and check-out at 09:30.
• Child rates: 70% of the adult rate for lower elementary and 80% for upper elementary.
• Baths: split by gender. Men use 16:00 to 17:00 and 20:00 to 21:00, women 17:00 to 20:00.
• Morning prayer: listed as an experience, with no time.

What are the rules on the mountain?

Koyasan’s official visitor guidance sets these rules:

• Yukata: wear one indoors only. Change into regular clothes for the main hall or the morning service, and never wear one at Danjo Garan or Okunoin.
• Dress: modest, with no revealing tops, short skirts or shorts, and shoulders covered. Entry to Okunoin may be refused otherwise.
• Gates and water: take your hat off at gates, bow with palms together (gassho) and purify at the chozuya water basin.
• Smoking and vehicles: smoke only in designated areas, and keep vehicles and bicycles out of sacred areas.

Manners at the hall are in Shrine and temple etiquette. If you collect temple stamps on the mountain, see Goshuin.

Can you take photos?

At Fugen-in’s morning prayer, yes, without flash. On the mountain, photography is prohibited in designated areas, and the visitor guidance shows a map of Okunoin. Confirm before you shoot.

Do tattoos matter at a temple lodging?

Ask your temple before you book: the association pages state no tattoo wording, and Fugen-in’s bath is shared. For baths elsewhere, see Onsen with a tattoo in Japan.

When is Okunoin open?

The Okunoin lantern hall, the Torodo, opens 06:00 to 17:00, and its ticket booth 08:30 to 17:00, per the Koyasan visitor site as shown in a search summary. Hours extend on 1 January, from midnight to 14:00, and on Mando evenings, 19:00 to 21:00. The Mandoe-e lantern ceremony is held in the Torodo from 1 to 3 October each year.

The Torodo opens at 06:00, half an hour before Fugen-in’s standard morning prayer at 06:30, so decide which comes first. The ticket booth opens at 08:30, when Fugen-in’s breakfast window ends.

For New Year at temples, see Hatsumode and New Year at temples and shrines.

To verify Confirm your own temple’s price, terms and tattoo policy with the association before you book, and check Okunoin and Kongobu-ji hours on the Koyasan visitor site.

Where next?

• Nara, Osaka, Koyasan and Ise: fees and hours for the seven sites.
• Kyoto temples and shrines: Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari, Kinkaku-ji and more.
• The temples and shrines guide: every site in one table.
• The Culture hub.