Is there camping on Mt Koya ?

We will be short on money by the time we get there. I know about the Hostel.

I didn't see any. There are many open areas around town. Perhaps a monastery would let you use their grounds?

My parents and friends spent one night at Mt Koya and they had a terrible time. the monks were very rude and unfriendly. If you are short on money then maybe you should by pass this place. As far as we are aware - no camping. good luck.

check http://www.shukubo.jp/eng/02_sansaku.html
then click on sightseeing then on map at the top right. There are over 120 temples on Mt Koya,each temple being several buildings, then there are cemeteries, shops and a forest, cars and buses and of course hordes of pilgrims and tourists, all that on a not so huge mountain. Not the most likely place for a camping. I agree with another poster that you should give it a miss! with the price of the 2 special passes (yen 1730per person for the basic, 2800 yen per person for a more complete pass)needed to go up there from Osaka Namba, PLUS the price of a room and meals in a temple,you might as well get a hoste in Osaka.

Do not miss Koyasan - one of the nicest places to go in Japan. rude monks (??) maybe but it's a must see...

Staying overnight at a temple is the highlight of Koyasan, in my opinion. If 9500 yen for the overnight stay and two meals are too much for you, I recommend to skip Koyasan altogether.

On my two stays at Koyasan, I never encountered rude monks. Temple lodgings are very simple kinds of lodgings. A small number of tourists from overseas come with the wrong attitude, expecting a nice room, English speaking staff and hotel like service. Do not expect these services at a temple lodging.

We ended up staying in two different Temples since the hostel was indeed full as they had emailed. They were great, very authentic surroundings and food. They sound expensive but when you factor in the traditional breakfast and dinner and the amazing location they are good value. The time there is a little short though so look around promptly or you may not see much. The mountain cemetery is lighted with lanterns and fluorescent lights on the main path. Don�ft miss the house of ten thousand lanterns. It was a pleasant surprise to find it at 3:30 am; our only time to explore the cemetery. One other thing, don�ft underestimate the time required to get to Koyasan; took us 13 hours from Mt Fuji and we were very lucky to catch the fast train since it was delayed by water on the tracks

Temples accomodations are SUPPOSED to be spartan as the monks MUST live ascetic lives. This is the same as for Catholic monks who also live with a minimum of comfort and this isn't different from European boarding schools (at least up to 20 years ago) Although the room and board was relatively pricey rooms were cold, we washed with cold water and in winter had to walk from one building to another in the snow without overcoats. Tourists who go to Koyasan and other places around the world just because they are must see places BUT don't bother to do a lot of reading about these places history and culture really get my goat. Let's show some respect and learn something!!!

Just got back from Japan. Spent a night on Koyasan. You should be aware that it is very cold right now. It was 8 degrees C. (about 46 F.) and windy when I was there a week and a half ago. I stayed at Eko-in Temple. Not cheap (120,000 Y) and everyone complained about how mean the monks were. If you do Koya, consider a day trip from Osaka. Better yet, spend an extra day in beautiful Nara.

I stayed at Muryoko-in last week and I agree, Koya-san was cold!
However, my room had a portable heater and kotatsu so the room at least wasn't cold.
Walking to the bathroom at night was though.

The monks there were nice and spoke English and some even spoke a bit of Chinese.

Note for people going to Koya-san, there is no escalator on either end of the cable car station so if you had heavy luggage like me, you're in for a workout lugging it up the stairs.

Koya san is a mountain, of course it will be cold in winter! :-)

We returned to Koyosan and last minute planning found one temple available for one night. It was a low priced temple. We traveled from Kyoto and used our Kansi regional passes. We regret not paying the additional $15 to take the fancy direct train. Our train took a long time, stopping dozens of times. The cable car was fun as usual. Do expect to carry your wife's luggage up some steps. With my Rick Steve's backpack loaded with camera gear and my wife's Tumi roller on my shoulder I had no problem boarding the cable car although was winded
The bus ride to town is free. We were disappointed in the visit because the Temple locks at 9pm, the house of 10,000 lanterns (so magical at 4am on our first vist) was a complete disappoint during the day because the monks would not allow any pictures, and even laughed about it. (Good thing I got lots on the first visit and a spectacular video of a monk praying) and we didn't have enough tome to look around much. Note the trip from Kyoto to Koyosan takes an entire day. Also note the low cost temple stay was much less pleasing than the higher cost places of our previous visit. There was no view from our room and breakfast only and the food was not as good. After being to the cemetery twice I see no reason you couldn't walk down a side path and camp discretely. The temple's are $200 - $300+ (US dollars) per couple per night.
Koyosan is a great place, we plan to return. Best to do Kyoto/Nara first than two or more days at Koyosan then fly out from Osaka KIX.

Mark Tighe-Crea

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koyasan is a religious place and has been an area restricted from our ordinary lives.
shukubo is originally an accommodation for visiting believers.
koyasan is not an amusement park. I am not surprised if monks are not friendly, when they are in religious ceremonies.

After being to the cemetery twice I see no reason you couldn't walk down a side path and camp discretely.

Except for the guards who regularly patrol of course. Not to mention it would be incredibly disrespectful to camp in such a holy graveyard...