Kyo Osaka Michi Trail
For most of Koyasan’s history, the Kyo Osaka Trail was the most popular option for people making the pilgrimage up to the Buddhist sanctuary in the mountains. The trail is less steep than the other six routes to Koyasan, and until the end of the Edo period (1603–1868) eight out of ten pilgrims chose this easier path. Today, however, the Choishi Michi (Stone Marker Trail) is better known.
The “Kyo” and “Osaka” in its name come from the fact that pilgrims from the Kyoto and Osaka area would use this trail to make pilgrimages to Nyonindo Hall. Other halls like this once stood along a trail around the perimeter of Koyasan; their ruins still can be seen. For over a thousand years, halls like this were as far as female worshippers were allowed to go on the pilgrimage trails, as women were not allowed to enter the precincts of Koyasan. Nyonindo Hall on the Kyo Osaka Trail is the only one that has survived.
The trail from Kamuro Station to Nyonindo Hall is approximately 10 kilometers long, and the center of Koyasan is only another kilometer beyond. Several sections of the trail are paved and the slope is relatively gentle, making this an excellent route for less-experienced hikers. The trail is marked with stone markers every 4 kilometers.
Toward the end of the route it connects with the former Fudozaka trail, which was used by female worshippers making their way to Nyonindo Hall.
