A Jizo is a guardian of travellers and children. There were thousands of them at Koya-San, probably since there are a lot of visitors! They are usually clothed in a bib and a hat, to keep them warm through the cold winter months.

The monastery had a wonderful gravel garden in the front yard. One wonders how long the monks spend in carefully raking the lines.

Elsewhere in Koya-San, rocks and lines of raked gravel imitate the local landscape.

A Shoji is a sliding door lined with rice paper that is a feature in traditional (and lots of modern) Japanese houses. There were long corridors of them at the monastery.

The corridors looked out on to the garden…

… Where other creatures also lived.

I was lucky enough to stay two nights at a Shinto monastery at Koya-San, in the mountains near Osaka. I will post photos from Koya-San over the next few days.