Koyasan 2023 Archive

World Heritage Site

Kongōbu-ji, Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

Celebrating the 1,250th anniversary of Kōbō Daishi’s birth

LIFE® Special Screening & Inochi Exhibition

Venue: Kongōbu-ji Okuden / Special public opening

The Okuden stands within one of Japan’s largest rock gardens,

Banryūtei. The event takes place in its normally private special room.

Organizer: Kongōbu-ji, head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism / Co-organizer: Feel&Sense

Supported by: Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition

Cooperation: Kochi University Design Institute

The 1,250th anniversary of Kōbō Daishi’s birth

Koyasan in Wakayama Prefecture was founded in 816 by Kōbō Daishi Kūkai as a sacred place for monastic practice and the teaching of Shingon esoteric Buddhism in Japan. In Shingon tradition, Kūkai entered eternal meditation at Koyasan’s Okunoin on March 21, 835, and continues to watch over and offer salvation to people.

2023 marks 1,250 years since Kōbō Daishi’s birth. Koyasan will hold 57 days of commemorative observances from May 14 to July 9, around his birthday on June 15, under the theme “Let Life Shine—Together with the Heart of Kōbō Daishi.” Alongside celebrating his birth, the observances express a wish for today’s children to grow in health, vitality and wisdom, inspired by his intelligence as a child. We are honored to present a special LIFE screening and the Inochi Exhibition in this anniversary year.

Here at sacred Koyasan, alongside Kūkai’s legacy, we hope to let our lives shine as they connect with the future.

Special program

In the normally private Okuden guest rooms

A special 25-minute screening of LIFE®—Re-experiencing Birth and the Inochi Exhibition

Experience the connection between the cosmos and life on a grand scale through the art film LIFE®—Re-experiencing Birth, inviting discoveries from within. The accompanying Inochi Exhibition offers an encounter with the mystery of life.

The venue is Kongōbu-ji’s Okuden, a normally private room set within Banryūtei, one of Japan’s largest rock gardens. “Banryū” refers to a dragon that remains at Koyasan rather than ascending to heaven. The garden depicts a sea of clouds with a male and female dragon appearing to guard the Okuden. The room will be specially opened for this program.

We hope this occasion helps you rediscover the wonder of your own life and connect with its source. We look forward to welcoming you to Koyasan.

Banryūtei Garden

Created for the 1,150th anniversary of Kōbō Daishi’s entry into eternal meditation, this 2,340-square-meter rock garden is one of Japan’s largest.

Within its sea of clouds, two dragons face one another—the male on the left and the female on the right—as if guarding the Okuden.

The dragons are formed from granite from Shikoku, Kōbō Daishi’s birthplace. The sea of clouds is represented by Shirakawa sand from Kyoto.

Kongōbu-ji, head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

Kongobuji Temple

Head Temple Of The Koyasan Shingon Sect

Banryūtei Garden

A pair of dragons, male and female

One of Japan’s largest rock gardens

Okuden

Banryūtei

Surrounded by the garden

Normally private

guest

rooms

The Okuden will be specially opened for the event.

These guest rooms were built in 1934 for the 1,100th anniversary of Kōbō Daishi’s entry into eternal meditation. The site was formerly Kōzan-ji, associated with Mokujiki Ōgo Shōnin. Before the Okuden and Betsuden were constructed, it housed Koyasan’s university and middle school.

The sliding-door paintings are a major work by Kōyō Ishizaki, depicting the Himalayas and Himalayan rhododendrons under the title Setsuzan Kashin. He died before completing the project, leaving some doors, including those behind the Okuden, unpainted. The paintings are among his final works.

The Okuden will be specially opened for the LIFE screening and Inochi Exhibition.

Inochi Exhibition special page

An art exhibition connecting with the mystery at the source of life

Dates

May 14 (Sun)–July 9 (Sun), 2023

Every Saturday and Sunday / 10:00–15:00

Free entry

Kongōbu-ji admission fee applies

Session times

Morning: ① 10:00–10:45 / ② 11:00–11:45

Afternoon: ③ 14:00–14:45 / ④ 15:00–15:45

30 people per session

Registration closes when each session reaches capacity.

Contact

support@feelandsense.org

Reservation changes

and cancellations:

please email

the address above.

Koyasan

2023.6.14

The eve of Kōbō Daishi Kūkai’s birthday

Special event

LIFE® Special Screening Under the Stars

In front of the Konpon Daitō at the Garan

Danjō Garan

Danjō Garan was the first area Kōbō Daishi developed when he founded Koyasan. He devoted himself to constructing its pagodas and halls according to esoteric Buddhist thought. The complex is said to embody the Womb Realm Mandala. At the heart of Koyasan, understood as the whole temple of Kongōbu-ji, it has long been a center of faith alongside Okunoin, the site of Kōbō Daishi’s eternal meditation. The traditional sequence for visiting the halls follows the Ryōdan Nyōdō Shidai preserved at Koyasan; visitors are encouraged to follow that order.

Special event for the eve of Kōbō Daishi’s birthday

LIFE® Special Screening Under the Stars

2023.6.14

As a special event on the eve of Kōbō Daishi’s birthday, LIFE®—Re-experiencing Birth will be screened under the stars in the plaza before the Konpon Daitō. We hope you will feel the connection between life and the cosmos beneath the night sky. Everyone is welcome.

Participants

Date: June 14 (Wed), 2023 / 19:30–20:30

Venue: In front of the Konpon Daitō, Garan / Free entry

In case of rain: Reimeikan, Koyasan University

No advance registration required

Program: Special outdoor screening of LIFE®

Greeting: Kunihiko Yabu / Head of the Koyasan Executive Office, Kongōbu-ji

Vocal performance: Masahiko Hashimoto / Director of LIFE®

Organizer: Kongōbu-ji, head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism / Co-organizer: Feel&Sense

Supported by: Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition

Kunihiko Yabu

Kongōbu-ji, head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

Office of the Chief Administrator

Masahiko Hashimoto

Director of LIFE®

Representative, Feel&Sense

Support the Koyasan project

For each of us to live as ourselves, with wellbeing in ten years, a hundred years and beyond.

This art project nurtures our sense of life in a sacred place rich in ancestral wisdom, creating new value through encounters with Koyasan. We hope to develop and sustain it together. Contributions may include installation, staffing, sound or financial sponsorship—each person participating in a way that is possible for them.

SPONSOR/COOPERATION

Kochi University Design Institute

NMG Recording Studio