Great report. How nice to have 3 weeks in Japan.
I would have been really freaked out if the train had not moved. We could tell which track we needed by the time posted.

We took the shinkansen from Hiroshima to Tokyo, and then to Narita all the same day. I would have been so worried if we sat for so long.

I looked at staying at a temple, but DH is all about comfort. That idea would never have flown.

Clark55,Grazie for the wonderful report, molto buono!

Glad you loved Japan,it would be nice to spend three weeks there.

We are also going to China in the spring and back through Japan for the third time on our way back home.
Aloha!

I did a bit of detective work on the web & found out the reason for the train delay. A gentlemen who worked for the railway threw himself in front of a train. The article states that 57.000 passengers were affected as 5 runs were cancelled & 63 trains sustained lengthy delays.
At least we now know that it was due to a tragedy & that it's a very rare occurance. However, after our experience I don't think I would plan on taking a train from a distance if I had a plane to catch.

Regarding the temple. The room was practically the same as our room in the Ryokan only it didn't have a bathroom. It was a good size, extremely clean with a television which was good because we were in bed by 7pm & luckily there was a Candid Camera type programme on that night so it was easy to follow. The futons were also very comfortable.

I can't remember all the dishes we had at dinner but there was Vegetable tempura, cooked pumpkin, carrots & mushrooms with fried eggplant, pickles, a clear soup with leaves, boiled rice, a type of brown bean that was quite sweet & fresh fruit.
There was definitely 1 yuba based dish but I don't like it either so I didn't eat it.
The menu changes daily because there are people who spend a week at the temple for Zen meditation. The couple who were with us at dinner were staying for 4 nights. Before dinner I was'nt expecting much, I thought I'd probably only manage to eat the soup & rice but I was pleasantly surprised that I liked almost everything. However it could be that we just got lucky & the dinner that evening was better suited to Western tastes.

The morning service is quite interesting but more or less the same as any church service. The 3 monks instead of reading from a bible, chant, then at the end if you wish you can take part in a blessing, which some Japanese guests did.

There's over 50 temples offering accomodation, we wanted to stay at the Eiko-In temple but Japanese Guest Houses don't have this temple & we didn't know how to go about booking it independantly so we didn't bother. Anyway this is supposed to be the nicest temple in Koyasan. It's run by young monks & all the rooms look onto gardens.
Another good one is Henjoson-in, maybe I just like this one because it's the only temple with a bar. LOL