Shukubo Lodging
Dec 12, 2008 | 3:41 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 31
Shukubo Lodging
My wife and I will be in Japan in mid-May and are interested in the experience of temple lodging. We will be in the following cities/areas - Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Hiroshima. Time is limited and I think the travel time to and back from Koyasan would make that option difficult. Could anyone recommend an alternate location? Thanks for your help.
Dec 12, 2008 | 5:10 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota,USA
Programs: UA, NW
Posts: 3,752
I've heard that there are a couple of shukubo in Kyoto itself. You may want to check out a Kyoto city guidebook (Lonely Planet has one, and I think Rough Guide does, too) for the details.
Dec 13, 2008 | 3:04 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,353
There are few if any shukubo in the big cities, although Kyoto has a couple (eg. Shunkoin). I'd recommend heading out to Koya-san if you can, the journey there is half the fun and it's not that far away from Osaka.
Dec 13, 2008 | 9:13 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Central California
Programs: Former UA Premex, now dirt
Posts: 6,531
Actually, it seems there is more than "a couple" in Kyoto.
http://templelodging.com/spot/05kans...ubo_kyoto.html
I can't recommend any in particular as that kind of thing is just not my cup of tea.
http://templelodging.com/spot/05kans...ubo_kyoto.html
I can't recommend any in particular as that kind of thing is just not my cup of tea.
Dec 28, 2008 | 1:17 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: MCI
Programs: Southwest A-List, AMC Stubs A-List, Chick-fil-A-List
Posts: 399
Can anyone recommend an especially English friendly Shukubo? Something between Tokyo and Hiroshima would be nice but I am flexible (Mt. Koya will be worth the side trip)
Last edited by SpeedyDelivery; Dec 28, 2008 at 1:25 am
Dec 31, 2008 | 6:05 pm
#7
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota,USA
Programs: UA, NW
Posts: 3,752
Yes, at Koya-san there's a central reservation office. You contact them, and they pick out your temple for you (there are dozens that take overnight guests.) Presumably they send gaijin to the ones that are prepared to take them.
The experience is like staying in a midlevel ryokan, except for the completely vegan food and the required service at 6AM. The temple I stayed at had lectures on Buddhism during the evening meal.
I and a young man from California were the only gaijin staying there, and he spoke no Japanese at all, so they put us in a dining room together and played an English-language video on Shingon Buddhism (the sect that is headquartered at Koya-san.)
The experience is like staying in a midlevel ryokan, except for the completely vegan food and the required service at 6AM. The temple I stayed at had lectures on Buddhism during the evening meal.
I and a young man from California were the only gaijin staying there, and he spoke no Japanese at all, so they put us in a dining room together and played an English-language video on Shingon Buddhism (the sect that is headquartered at Koya-san.)