December 11, 2011

「KCCN 冬の企画」にご参加頂いた皆様

12月3日開催の「KCCN 冬の企画」にご参加頂いた皆様
ありがとうございました。

来年も引き続き 四季折々の高野山の魅力を味わって頂ける内容で企画を提供していきたいと考えています。
今後ともよろしくお願い致します。
今回参加出来なかった方も、次回のご参加を心よりお待ちしています。
ありがとうございました。

以下、頂いたご意見の一部をご紹介させていただきます。

阿字観について


・瞑想体験では自分をみつめられました。

・瞑想体験は初めてでしたが、今後も機会を頂きたいです。

・瞑想体験は初めてだったので、時間もちょうどよかったです。

・瞑想は一度では習得できないので、機会があればまたしたいと思います。

・瞑想の時、目の前にお軸をおいてもらったのでイメージしやすくてとてもよかったです。

・高野山に住んでいても、瞑想は初体験でした。普段は時間的余裕がありません。

・もっと続けて瞑想したかった。

・途中の説明を短くして、体験時間をもっと長くして欲しい。

精進料理について
・精進料理は家庭的でよかったです。

・本当に心をこめて作られたものであることが伝わってきてとても美味しかったです。

・食事等があったので他の参加者と話しやすくてよかったです。

・お寺に依って、季節に依って違いが楽しめます。

 特別講義について

・特別講義のお話は、知ってるようで知らないことでした。
・分りやすい講義で、より身近な内容でよかったです。
・高野山ならではの話題で興味深かったです。
・居眠りすることなく、あっという間に楽しいときが過ぎてしまいました。
・山口先生の 高野百景 を購入しようと思います。
・「新 高野百景」を持っているので、また別の本も読もうと思います。
・特別講義に心が癒されました。

 茶話会について

・風流なお茶室でお手前を頂けて感激しました。
・いろいろな質問に答えて頂いたり教えて頂いて楽しかったです。

 全般的な意見

・心地よい時間を過ごさせて頂きました。
・師走の忙しい時に大変有意義な一日を過ごせました。ありがうございました。感謝感謝です。
・素晴しい企画をありがとうございました。お話を伺え「高野山」が近く感じられるようになりました。
・貴重な企画に参加させて頂きありがとうございました。


ご協力頂いた山口先生、報恩院の皆様、白馬師、ありがとうございました。

KCCN 代表 松山典子

October 28, 2011

Thank you very much for your participation

KCCN offers Wednesday Tours from April to October with the fee of 1000 yen per person.
Your donation covers both your transportation on the tour and the guides' transportation to and from Koyasan.
Unfortunately Japan has had a hard time on tourism because of many natural disaster and the accident of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.


So many foreign tourists cancel their trip to Japan even here about 700km away from Fukushima.

We conclude Wednesday Tours of 2011 but we're still offering the Custom Tour which is planned out just for you depend on your itinerary and the interest any days of the year.
So if you ever come to Koyasan, please feel free to ask us. With our guiding you can enjoy Koyasan a lot more.

We're looking forward to seeing you anytime.

By KCCN staff

Rice Cake Scatter

In autumn in Koyasan, you may see many people gathering with some plastic bags or with a big apron spreading in front of the shrines. They are waiting for rice cake being scattered.
Appreciating the autumn harvest, they offer their harvest (mainly the products made of rice) in front of the shrine and share the great joy of the harvest.
So once you meet this occasion, why don't you try to join.
But I'm afraid you may be very surprised to see Japanese people having waited quietly for a long time suddenly changed into wild crowds only getting some rice cake.
Please protect yourself from excited Japanese who scramble for rice cake.(by KQ)

August 28, 2011

MEDITATION PRACTICE (ENGLISH)

September : Special Program


SEPTEMBER 7 (WED) 10:00~11:30 / 13:30~15:00
PLACE : DAISHI KYOKAI BUILDING

Introductory Meditation for beginners
MEDITATION & TALKING ABOUT BUDDHISM
BY A BUDDHIST MONK OF KOYASAN SHINGON BUDDHISM

ANYONE IS WELCOME IN THIS PROGRAM WITH
JPY2 ,000 PER PERSON

RESERVATION: 090- 1 486- 2 588
mail@koyasan-ccn.com

August 4, 2011

FREE GUIDED TOUR in English

August 13th

① Kongobuji & Garan tour for one hour.
Tours start every 30 minutes from 9:00 to 14:30
② Okunoin tour for two hours.
Tours start 9:30 13:30

*Meet at VIC ( the Visitor Information Center),
in the Daishi Kyokai building

Phone: 0736-56-2270 / 090-3263-5184


CANDLE FESTIVAL
( Okunoin Manto-kuyo-e)
19:00 Opening Ceremony at Ichi-no-hashi
19:00 Candles can be given for free at Okunoin
20:00 Magnificent ceremony at Lantern Hall in Okunoin

**=*=*= NOTICE =*=*=*
1. Smoking is strictly prohibited in the holy site of Okunoin,
including the approaches to the Kobo Daishi’s Mausoleum.

2. Please refrain from wearing temple-issued Yukata, or nightwear,
on entering the holy site of Okunoin.

3. Place the lighted candles on the aluminum foils along the approach.

4. The last bus bound for Koyasan Station leaves Okunoin-mae at 9:10,
which connects to the last cable car.

5. The last cable car leaves Koyasan Station at 9:40,
which connects to the last train bound for Namba Osaka.


! Don’t miss the last bus and the last train to Namba, Osaka!

June 7, 2011

AOBA-MATSURI FESTIVAL

AOBA-MATSURI FESTIVAL
Let’s Celebrate Kobo Daishi’s Birthday!


June 15 (Wed) FESTIVITY

9:00 Buddhist Service < Place: The main hall in Daishi Kyokai >
* Kobo Daishi Kukai was born in Sanuki Province (Kagawa prefecture in Shiokoku island) on June 15th,774. In order to celebrate his birth, this ceremony has been carried on every June 15th as an annual event of Koyasan, since 1778.
10:00, 11:00, 14:00 Gagaku
(Traditional Court Music) performed by Kanagawa Gagaku Club
< Place: Kongobuji >
11:40 Song of Prayer 
12:00 Wakayama Police Marching Band  
12:00 #1. Marching band
by Koyasan Elementary School Students
< From Ichinohashi to Kongobuji, or to Daishi Kyokai >
#2. Hanamido < Starat from Ichinohashi to Kongobuji >

* Hanamido is a small portable altar that enshrines Kobo Daishi in his infancy.
The procession of Hanamido parades along the main street together with other
decorative floats. The processional performance includes dancing and drumming as well.
Anyone can join in the “Local Dancing Team”

14:00 #3. Greetings < Parking lot in front of Kongobuji >
・ The Most Reverend Yukei Matsunaga,
the 412th Chief Abbot of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism
・ Takeji Kise, a Mayor of Koya Town

EXHIBITION & SERVICES
9:00 Exhibition of Calligraphy, Photographs and Paintings of Buddhist art
< Place: Shinbetsuden in Kongobuji >
Flower Arrangement Display
< Place: Betsuden in Kongobuji >
9:00 Tea Ceremony < Place: Okuden in Kongobuji >
* Open to the public. Tea is served for free.
9:00 Performance of Flower Arrangement & Tea Ceremony
< Place: Daishi Kyokai >

(( Admission to Kongobuji is free on June 15th ))

June 1, 2011

Not An Umbrella Stand


When you visit Koyasan, you may see this kind of stone stands at the entrance of temples.
In this rainy season, you are afraid of your umbrellas taken away by somebody by mistake and try to find the place where you leave your umbrella safely.
But do not put your umbrella in this stand.
This is not a trash can or the umbrella stand but is only set for keeping Kongozue, the special cane which pilgrims are carrying when they travel around Shikoku, the pilgrimage path.
So this stand should be kept clean and nothing else can be put and I hope you'll show your respect for that.

(By KQ)

June Event


Rainy season has just started.
It came more than 2 weeks earlier than usual.
In Koyasan, the greens are most beautiful in June and Kobo Daishi, Kukai was born in this beautiful season.

June 2 and 3
The Summer Prayer Ritual at Sannoin (at Garan) is to be held.
The main Buddha of Nan-in Temple left Nan-in around 8:15 in the morning and is moved to Sannoin. The procession which is followed by many worshippers is going to Sannoin (on June 2). The rituals are held at Sannoin from 9:00 on June 2nd and 3rd.

http://koyasanguide.blogspot.com/2010/07/special-summer-prayer-in-sannnoin.html

June 4
From 18:00, Sannoin Rissei Ritual is to be held at Sannoin.

June 14
Aoba Matsuri Festival to celebrate Kobo Daishi's birthday is to be held on June 15. On the eve of the day, around 18:00, you can see huge paper-made objects which are lit from inside by lantern on the streets of the town.

June 15
From 9:00 the celebrating ritual is held at Daishi Kyokai.
From 12:00, the parades for Wakayama Police Marching Band, local elementary school kids' drum and fife band, the floats enshrined Kobo Daishi in his infancy.

http://www.koyasan-ccn.com/event/eventcal.html#event6

(By KQ)

May 29, 2011

TyphoonⅡ(Songda)

May 29, 2011
This is almost the end of May. Although we didn't have enough time to enjoy warm spring days, the rainy season has set in. And, oh my!! A big typhoon is approaching to Japan. Now that, as of May 29 morning,the typhoon Songda is about 100 kilometers northeast of Yakushima, and approaching to Japan's main island at 55 kilometers an hour. Due to the approach of the typhoonⅡ, or Songda, the weather today is getting stormy.
Here are the warnings annouced officially this morning in Wakayama area.
* Heavy rain warning
* Flood warning
* High wind warning
* High seas warning



It is raining in Koyasan, but not windy so far.

May 1, 2011

Cherry Blossoms Are At Their Best

About 2 weeks ago, cherry blossoms in Koyasan looked like this and still it sometimes snowed.

But finally spring has come to Koyasan.
Unfortunately the weather forecast for today was not welcome as the holiday but the weather today was pretty busy to change all the time, sunny, cloudy suddenly stormy rain and windy.

Drooping cherry trees in front of Kongobuji look heavy but proud with lots of blossoms.

Many couples and families took pictures in front of cherry blossoms.
I'm sure cherry blossoms console and cheer people depressed these days and give energy for us to encourage people suffering from Tohoku Earthquake.


The last picture is famous as KASAZAKURA, umbrella shaped cherry tree which is said to be more than 400 years old. Toyotomi Hideyoshi praised and cherrished this cherry blossoms and left his Haiku poem.
"Ages pass, even an old tee has blossoms at their best in Koyasan."

(by KQ)

VIC -Even Closer to Help You-















Our VIC(Visitor Information Center) office is in Daishi Kyokai which is near Kongobuji, the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, on the west across from the big parking lot.
But still not many tourists can't recognize what it is like.
This is the picture of the entrance of Daishi Kyokai. Please come inside.
From outside, it looked darker but please do not hesitate to come in.


Then you'll see the friendly symbolic character "KOYA-KUN". Please take the right hand entrance, you'll see our counter.




You can see warm-welcoming smile of our staff member on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from April to November. (From December to March, only on Wedmesdays and Fridays. Sorry for your inconvenience.) Unless you're lucky enough coming on the day we're not open, you can also contact us on either 090-1486-2588 or 090-3263-5184.


(by KQ)

April 20, 2011

Thank you for coming all the way to Japan

From April to October, KCCN provides 3-hour-English guided tour around Koyasan on Wednesdays.
You can participate the tour without any reservation and you can get a general information about Koyasan during the tour.
Since Tohoku and north Kanto Earthquakes and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster,  less and less foreign visitors have come to Koyasan.
Well, actually Koyasan is about 700 or 800 km away from Fukushima and west part of Japan don't have much influcence from that.  But people in the west have been giving themselves self-restrain and even hesitated to do ordinarily.
But I hope people from abroad visit Kansai area and encourage us so that we could support people in Tohoku with cheerful smile and economically too.  Now the cherry blossoms are out of bloom in most area of Kansai but still you can enjoy spring flowers like wisteria, yellow Japanese rose, azalea, iris and so on.
And here in Koyasan, you can still enjoy cherry blossoms next week or later.  Well, it was 1.9 degrees Celcius today and the season were brought back to winter. People staying at Koyasan today is so surprised to feel the differences of the temperature.
On such a cold day, we were happy to have guests participating our Wednesday Tour.  They were from Holland and  they know a lot about Japanese history and Japanese samurai heroes.  The person in charge today was also a big fan of Japanese history and she was so happy to share the stories about samurai with them.  I hope they should come back sometime to see the grave of Date Masamune which they missed today.  
 
 (^-^) by KQ 
 

PS:Thank you for the candy!

April 8, 2011

On the Day with a Buddhist Ritual

At the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, Kongobuji, the special decoration is done along the approach to the front and side gates on special days in Buddhism.

Classical wooden pails are lined up on both side of the approach and neat piles of Japanese cedar branches are placed by the gate. They are said to be used as drinking water and the grass for the horses who brought their masters to the temple.
The red tubs by the gate are said to be used for those masters purified their hands before entering the temple.

It was HANAMATSURI, the Flower Festival to celebrate the Buddha(Shakyamuni)'s birthday today. (By KQ)

Hana-Matsuri, the Flower Festival

HANA-MATSURI, the Flower Festival is held to celebrate the Buddha(Shakyamuni)'s birthday today, on April 8th.

At Kongobuji, the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, abbots gathered in the main hall and hold the Buddhist Ceremony.

The alter decorated with colorful flowers holds a young Shakyamuni Buddha with his hand up in the pool of AMACHA, hydrangea tea inside.

After the ceremony offered for Buddha's birthday, his alter is placed in the hallway and any visitors celebrate his birthday with pouring (offering) hydrangea tea to the little Buddha.
The local kindergarten children as well visit Kongobuji and join this ceremony. They are all curious, line up in order and offering tea earnestly.

The visitors to the temple as well offered hydrangea tea served by wives of local temples. (By KQ)

April 1, 2011

VIC Small Opening

 After the long hibernation, we newly opened Koyasan Visitor Information Center to provide all the information about Koyasan and to answer your questions at the same place in Daishi Kyokai.
The entrance is a little difficult to find but please do not miss our sign.
We're waiting for your coming.



However the Reception is shared with 3 different organizations, so sometimes you may hesitate to come into our front desk when many Japanese visitors are buying their souvenirs or waiting for their order to have OJUKAI, the Buddhist ritual, SHAKYO, copying sutra, or GOSHUIN, the special calligraphy of Buddha. But once you see closely, under the English sign, you'll see our staff member smiling to you with our full hospitality. You can talk to us in English.
(By KQ)