View source for 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
| image_size   =
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| caption      = ''Gobyō-bashi'' in Okunoin
| map_type     = Japan
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| established  =
| abandoned    =
| 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}}
| type         =
| style        =
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| size         =
| graves       =
| interments   =
| cremations   =
| leases       =
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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 Buddhism|Shingon]] school of [[esoteric Buddhism]]. It is considered the largest cemetery in [[Japan]], with more than two hundred thousand graves and memorial monuments.<ref name="Graham2016">{{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 }}</ref><ref name="Zappaterra2022">{{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 }}</ref>
== 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 [[conifer]]s. 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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> His resting place in Okunuin has since become a place of [[pilgrimage]], and Buddhist monks bring him ritual offerings and meals twice a day.<ref name="Graham2016" />
=== 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 [[Daimyo|feudal lords]].<ref name="Graham2016" /><ref name="TravelJapan">{{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 }}</ref>
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.<ref name="LonelyPlanet">{{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 }}</ref>
=== 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;<ref name="JapanGuide">{{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 }}</ref> two of these are said to have been burning without pause for more than 900 years.<ref name="LonelyPlanet" /> 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.<ref name="JapanGuide" />
=== Modern section ===
A second entrance to the site is located in front of the [[Kōyasan Station#Buses|Okunoin-mae bus stop]], leading to a more recent section of the cemetery.<ref name="JapanGuide" /> 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 [[termite]]s killed by an extermination company. Another monument from [[ShinMaywa|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
== Gallery ==
<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.
</gallery>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Okunoin, Koyasan|Okunoin}}
{{Buddhist temples in Japan}}
{{Portal bar|Japan}}
[[Category:Buddhist temples in Wakayama Prefecture]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Japan]]
[[Category:Kōyasan]]