Okunoin
{{Short description|Sacred site on Mt. Koya, Japan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name = Okunoin
| native_name = 奥之院
| native_name_lang = ja
| image = Gobyoubasi.jpg
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| caption = Gobyō-bashi in Okunoin
| map_type = Japan
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| established =
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| location = Mount Kōya, Wakayama Prefecture
| country = Japan
| coordinates = {{Coord|34.2175|N|135.6050|E|format=dms|type:landmark_region:JP-30|display=inline,title}}
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| website = {{URL|koyasan.or.jp/meguru/sights#okunoin}}
}}
Okunoin or Oku-no-in ({{langx|ja|奥之院}}, {{lit|inner sanctuary}}) is a sacred Buddhist site and cemetery on Mount Kōya, in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Opened in 835, it houses the mausoleum of Kūkai, founder of the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism. It is considered the largest cemetery in Japan, with more than two hundred thousand graves and memorial monuments.{{cite web |last=Graham |first=Adam H |title=The eerie grave of 200,000 monks |website=BBC Travel |date=March 17, 2016 |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160308-an-eerie-night-with-200000-dead-monks |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119142359/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160308-an-eerie-night-with-200000-dead-monks |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Zappaterra |first=Y. |title=Cities of the Dead: The world's most beautiful cemeteries |publisher=Frances Lincoln |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-7112-6579-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9KTEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 |access-date=19 January 2024 |pages=189–190 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229075428/https://books.google.com/books?id=m9KTEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
The site
Located on the outskirts of the settlement of Koya, the cemetery spans over {{cvt|2|km|mi}} in length and is immersed in a forest of tall conifers. The earliest planting records of these trees, belonging predominantly to the genera Cryptomeria and Chamaecyparis, date back to 1012 AD.{{cn|date=May 2024}} The area surrounding Kūkai's mausoleum was initially left to its wild state, but only a small area of natural forest remains nowadays, as a large portion of the vegetation was cut during the Meiji era, in the late 19th century.{{cite journal |last1=Collett |first1=Brian Richard |last2=Abe |first2=Daishu |title=Koyasan: A Demonstration of the Compatibility of Man, Nature and Art |date=March 31, 1987 |doi=10.24729/00009315 |journal=Bulletin of the University of Osaka Prefecture |volume=39 |page=43 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/67681086.pdf |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=March 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319163817/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/67681086.pdf |url-status=live }}
According to popular belief, after being laid in his mausoleum in 835 AD, Kūkai entered into an eternal samadhi (meditative trance) and is still alive on Mount Kōya, waiting for Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.{{Cite journal |last=Casal |first=U. A. |date=1959 |title=The Saintly Kôbô Daishi in Popular Lore (A. D. 774-835) |url=http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/afs/pdf/a117.pdf |journal=Folklore Studies |volume=18 |pages=95–144 |doi=10.2307/1177430 |issn=0388-0370 |jstor=1177430|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213255/http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/afs/pdf/a117.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }} His resting place in Okunuin has since become a place of pilgrimage, and Buddhist monks bring him ritual offerings and meals twice a day.
= The cemetery =
The entrance of the site is marked by the {{transl|ja|Ichi-no-hashi}} ({{lit|first bridge}}). From there, a {{Convert|2|km|mi|adj=mid|-long|sp=us}} {{transl|ja|sandō}} (walkway) paved with cobblestones guides the visitors to the mausoleum, passing through a site that holds more than 200,000 graves, of which a large number belong to monks and feudal lords.{{cite web |title=Okunoin Temple |website=Travel Japan |url=https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/974/ |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119142404/https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/974/ |url-status=live }}
The {{transl|ja|Gobyō-bashi}} marks the entrance to the inner sanctum of Okunoin. Here visitors pour water over the bronze statues of the {{transl|ja|Mizumuke Jizō}}, to pray for the souls of their ancestors.{{cite web |title=Oku-no-in |website=Lonely Planet |date=October 29, 2014 |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/kansai/koya-san/attractions/oku-no-in/a/poi-sig/486204/356694 |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119164210/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/kansai/koya-san/attractions/oku-no-in/a/poi-sig/486204/356694 |url-status=live }}
= Kūkai's mausoleum =
The path ends at {{transl|ja|Tōrō-dō}}, the main hall of worship, built directly in front of the {{transl|ja|Gobyō}}, Kūkai's mausoleum. Over ten thousand lanterns, donated by pilgrims and worshippers, are lit in the hall in perpetuity;{{cite web |title=Okunoin Temple |website=Japan Guide |url=https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4901.html |access-date=January 19, 2024 |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028175818/https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4901.html |url-status=live }} two of these are said to have been burning without pause for more than 900 years. In 1984, 50,000 statues were donated for the 1150th anniversary of Kūkai's burial and are located in the hall basement. The mausoleum itself, located behind the {{transl|ja|Tōrō-dō}}, is a sacred place with no access to the public.
= Modern section =
A second entrance to the site is located in front of the Okunoin-mae bus stop, leading to a more recent section of the cemetery. A large number of corporate tombs can be found here, typically bought by Japanese companies for their employees and their families. The first one was built by Kōnosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic, in 1938. Several monuments were built to attract the attention of the visitors, such as a memorial in honor of the termites killed by an extermination company. Another monument from ShinMaywa Industries features a large-scale model of the Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo 11 to the Moon, although the company had no connection to the mission.{{cite web |last=Pollack |first=Andrew |title=Koyasan Journal; For Japan Inc., Company Rosters That Never Die |website=The New York Times |date=September 8, 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/08/world/koyasan-journal-for-japan-inc-company-rosters-that-never-die.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131154253/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/08/world/koyasan-journal-for-japan-inc-company-rosters-that-never-die.html |archive-date=January 31, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=January 19, 2024}}
Gallery
File:高野山奥の院にて 一の橋 Ichi-no-hashi 2011.8.27 - panoramio.jpg|Ichi-no-hashi Bridge
File:Japan_2015_(22677152573).jpg|The tall conifers in the cemetery.
File:Okunoin_Ⅱ.JPG|The sandō walkway leading to the mausoleum.
Lanterns in Okunoin.jpg|Lanterns burning in Tōrō-dō Hall, in Okunoin.
File:Lanterns inside Toro-do, Okunoin, Koyasan, 2016 (2).jpg|Detail of the lanterns in Tōrō-dō Hall.
File:Pathway through graveyard at Okunoin at Koyasan at night - Japan 20170412103315 (33954055892).jpg|The lit-up pathway at night.
File:Choishi Path - Okunoin Cemetery - Koyasan - Japan - 07 (47949843813).jpg|Jizō statues with the traditional red bibs.
Okunoin Cemetery, Koyasan, Japan.JPG|Moss-covered tombs and Jizō statues in Okunoin.
File:Grave of ShinMaywa corp.jpg|Grave of ShinMaywa, representing a Saturn V rocket.
File:Grave of termite.jpg |Grave of termites by the Japan Termite Control Association.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category inline|Okunoin, Koyasan|Okunoin}}
{{Buddhist temples in Japan}}
{{Portal bar|Japan}}