I sprang upright in the plush down bedding—startled awake by lurking footsteps approaching my room. Amazingly, the translucently-tan, paper shoji walls had kept my room warm throughout the freezing Mt. Koya night. Unfortunately, the paper walls were, as one might imagine, paper thin; I heard every snore, sniffle and footstep that reverberated down the pine-floored hallway of the 30-room Buddhist temple. I slept little my first night at the Muryoko Inn, a shukubo temple in Koyasan, Japan.

A shukubo temple is like a Buddhist bed-and-breakfast. Young Buddhist priests-in-training serve elegantly portioned vegetarian Buddhist fare (called shojinryori) and tend to traditionally appointed, minimalist rooms. Overnight guests are also invited to the candle-lit morning ceremony. A night’s stay, including dinner and breakfast, costs at least $75, all proceeds benefiting the temple. This is how traditional Buddhist culture survives modern Japan’s economic demands.

Priests at the Muryoko shukubo practice Shingon Esoteric Buddhism. Esoteric Buddhism, Zen Buddhism’s chilled-out cousin, emphasizes aesthetics meditation rather than self-denial, and counts over 2 million Japanese adherents. Koyasan is the Shingon School’s Mecca, attracting practitioners, priests and curious tourists from around the world.
Koyasan—a four-square mile town and UNESCO World Heritage Site—is located south of Kyoto in the ever-misty mountains of the Kii Peninsula. Leaving the concrete and steel behind in Kyoto, the meandering drive up 3,000 foot Mt. Koya rewards visitors with lush cedar, cypress, and towering pine forests—plus thick Buddhist ambience. It’s a different world on Mt. Koya, where pedestrians outnumber vehicles and the crisp mountain air recharges even the most urban-weary travelers.

—Rory Moulton