November 10, 2013

Window-Shopping in Koya

The main street in Koya is made up mostly of souvenir shops, temples, food shops, and pharmacies. 

The mochi at this shop looked delicious, but I didn't have a chance to try them.

 
Carved wooden ornaments for graves.

A store full of old Buddhist texts.

A pharmacy/apothecary that claims to have the medicine to treat various ills.

Most likely a coloring that a kid did in school. The drawing is of Kukai, the patriarch of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, as a novice. After studying in China, Kukai traveled to Mt. Koya and established a meditation center. He died in 836 and is entombed in Oku-no-in, which takes up a significant portion of Koya. Oku-no-in will be introduced in a future post.

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