memejs

I just booked my Japan flight, so now that I have firm dates I can really get started making bookings!

I'm looking at doing a 1-night temple stay in Mt. Koya from November 26-27 (I can do this a few days earlier if needed). I've seen Eko-in and Shojoshin-in recommended on this forum. Eko-in has a website with booking available starting at 66,000 yen, which is much higher than the prices shown on japaneseguesthouses.com, although that site is not taking bookings, so maybe their prices are outdated. I'm not seeing any websites where I can currently book or see current prices for Shojoshin-in.

I'm just getting started researching this portion of the trip, so I have some work to do on my own, but my questions for this forum are:
- Personal experiences with (pros and cons) Eko-in and Shojoshin-in
- Are there other temples in Koyasan recommended for temple stays?
- What is a decent price for a simple-medium range room (shared bathroom is okay)? The prices I'm seeing at the places that allow bookings right now are much higher than the prices I saw in my initial research.

memejs

Follow-up question: does anyone have experience with https://eng-shukubo.net/? It says it's the official website of the Koyasan Subukubo Association. You put in your information with three choices of shukubo and type of room and your credit card details. The prices look much cheaper than anything I'm finding on booking.com or other websites. Do you get a chance to confirm the reservation before your card is charged?

kja

It's been many years since I was there (2006), but FWIW, I stayed at Shojoshin-in and loved it! Pros: next to Okuno-in (worth visiting at both dawn and dusk, IMO); extraordinary meals (to die for!); beautiful setting; convenience for visiting Koya-san temples; graciousness of the monks; opportunity to observe morning prayers. Cons: None that I remember. I had opted for a shared bath (which I ended up using by myself) and was glad to find a sink area in my room. I booked through JapaneseGuestHouses; I've had no experience with shukubo.net, though I think I booked some other places through Rakuten, if that helps.

I thought my temple stay a highlight of a highlight-filled trip. I hope it proves to be that for you, too!

Mara

I stayed in Koyasan many years ago (2009) at Muryoko-in. I was there for two nights. I don't remember how I made the reservation. I just quickly looked at the shukubo site and I thought it said they want your credit card number just in case of cancellation fee and you pay in cash.....

crellston

I stayed in Eko-in back in 2008 on our first RTW trip and loved everything about it. The food was amazing even for a confirmed carnivore like me and I think that was my first experience of a communal bath. We attended the morning service in the temple and were blown away by the drumming! I agree with kja re visiting Okuno-in at dawn and dusk.

We were coming from Kyoto and had a very convoluted journey train journey to get there involving four or five changes so for that reason, I may consider two nights which will allow a full day for exploring. We got one of the "free" guides for half a day who took us around many of the sites and other temples.

I think I booked direct with the temple but vaguely recall looking at the shukubo site but decided that booking the specific temple was preferable to taking pot luck

crellston

I thought I had written a trip report re our time in Koyasan but apparently not. Here are a few photos from our time there:

travelkam

We stayed at Edoin March 12 to 13, 2024 , one night, booked thru booking dot com nine months ago, 29000 yen per person, standard room with private bathroom. The small living area with two real chairs overlooking the courtyard is charming and serene. But the room where you sleep and eat are super uncomfortable because we have bad knees from walking in Miyajima Mt top. They took away your mattress at 7 am. Meals absolutely exceeds my expectations keeping that I had very good vegetarian meals in China and Hong Kong. Sutra is provided in your room. Meditation is very legit. Morning praying and fire ritual was way overcrowded. I joined the Okunion night tour and day tour on our own. The temple stay is unique but it is also quite commercial. There are big group of young kids drank and being very loud so that ruined the experience. Mt Koya is a beautiful small town. Taking bus and taxi visiting other places are easy. If weather was nicer I would have loved a short hike.

memejs

Thanks everyone for your responses!

Okay weird question, I got to this website - https://shojoshinin.jp/ - through https://eng-shukubo.net/ and made a reservation at what I thought was Shojoshin-in. However, everything on the website and in my email confirmation says Seijoshin-in. Can I just assume that's a mistranslation or two different ways of writing the same Japanese characters? The street address is the same, and I'm not seeing anything come up online when I search for Seijoshin-in. I didn't enter any credit card info, so I'm not out anything if it turns out to be a different shukubo, but I'd just like to know if I actually have a reservation or not!

kja

Since no one here has answered, you might consider posting on the japan-guide.com forum.
Good luck!