Koyasan Kongobuji Temple
About the Koyasan Camera
Mount Koya is a monastic settlement on a wooded plateau about 800 metres up in the mountains of Wakayama. Kukai, known posthumously as Kobo Daishi, founded it in 816 as the centre of Shingon Buddhism, and more than a hundred temples still stand there. This TV Wakayama camera looks out from Kongobuji, the sect's head temple.
Alongside Kongobuji, the plateau holds the Danjo Garan temple complex with its great vermilion pagoda, and Okunoin, a cemetery of some two hundred thousand graves along a two-kilometre path through ancient cedars. The whole area was inscribed by UNESCO in 2004 as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
The altitude shows in the picture. Koyasan is markedly cooler than the coast below, holds mist in the mornings, turns deep red in late autumn and takes real snow in winter. Many visitors stay overnight in shukubo temple lodgings to join the dawn prayers.
Highlights & Nearby
- •Watch for: mountain mist, autumn colour in late October and November, winter snow on temple roofs
- •Nearby: Danjo Garan, Okunoin cemetery, Daimon gate, shukubo temple lodgings
- •Note: a UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed in 2004
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Koyasan camera live?
Yes. TV Wakayama streams it continuously, with occasional switches to other views during maintenance.
What is Kongobuji?
The head temple of Shingon Buddhism on Mount Koya, the sect Kukai founded there in 816.
Is Koyasan a World Heritage site?
Yes. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2004 as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
What is the weather like?
At around 800 metres it is much cooler than the Wakayama coast, with morning mist, vivid late-autumn colour and snow in winter.
