{
 "slug": "ekoin",
 "name": "Ekoin",
 "url": "https://ryokancatalog.com/inn/ekoin",
 "location": "Koyasan",
 "prefecture": "Wakayama",
 "region": "Kansai",
 "geo": {
  "lat": 34.2125,
  "lng": 135.5858
 },
 "tier": "C",
 "score": 6.5,
 "score_scale": "1-10",
 "unscored": false,
 "confidence": "med",
 "evidence": {
  "units": 2,
  "op_stays": 0,
  "member_stays": 2
 },
 "kinrt_rank_claim": null,
 "rooms": null,
 "property_type": "Temple lodging",
 "style": "Temple lodging",
 "features": {
  "in_room_onsen": "No",
  "meals_in_room": "Yes"
 },
 "summary": "Ekoin is a working Buddhist temple on Koyasan that runs a single luxurious suite (a private garden, two double beds and a tatami dining room where a strictly vegan shojin dinner arrives at a fixed 5:30pm). There is no onsen, and guests are encouraged to join meditation in the afternoon and the service and fire ceremony before breakfast. Both first-hand stays enjoyed it as the closest a temple lodging gets to non-Buddhist comfort, and both agree that a single night is the right dose for Ekoin and Koyasan together.",
 "aspect_scale": "1-5",
 "aspects": {
  "cuisine": {
   "label": "Food",
   "score": 3,
   "text": "The food is strict shojin cooking, vegan and, according to the temple's handout, without garlic or onion either, served in the room at fixed hours (dinner at 5:30pm, breakfast at 8am). Dinner arrives all at once as a spread of small dishes, with a candle burner under the one hot dish and a hot soup, and the rest cold. RichardInSF found breakfast looked more colorful and interesting than it tasted, while Buster CT1K thought the food well flavored."
  },
  "onsen": {
   "label": "Bath",
   "score": 1.5,
   "text": "There is no onsen at Ekoin, and no mineral water of any kind. The shower room off the main bathroom has an ordinary bath of heated tap water, so bathing is not part of the experience here."
  },
  "service": {
   "label": "Service",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "The monks who look after you speak decent English, and RichardInSF puts the service at or close to luxury level, although the temple's timetable is fixed: dinner at 5:30pm, breakfast at 8am and checkout at 10am. Guests are encouraged to attend three ceremonies, meditation in the afternoon and the regular service and the fire ceremony before breakfast. Internet is included and excellent, and there is free parking on the premises."
  },
  "room": {
   "label": "Room",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "The temple has a single luxurious suite: a living room with a mini bar and a view onto its own private garden, a large tatami room beside it where meals are served, and a bedroom with two actual double beds and a monster TV on the opposite wall. The toilet is a small room near the suite's entrance, about as far from the bedroom as it is possible to get, and the main bathroom has a single sink with a shower room and bath next to it."
  },
  "setting": {
   "label": "Place",
   "score": 4,
   "text": "Ekoin is a genuine working Buddhist temple on Koyasan that makes its revenue by running a hotel inside its grounds, and the suite looks onto its own private garden. RichardInSF says he stayed to experience temple life only \"somewhat\", because this sort of luxury does not go with Buddhism. Both guests enjoyed Koyasan, but Buster CT1K was blunt that one night was enough for Ekoin and the mountain together and two would have been too much."
  }
 },
 "transit": {
  "cities": [
   {
    "city": "Osaka",
    "hours": 2,
    "time": "~2h",
    "transfers": 2,
    "estimated": true,
    "text": "Osaka-Namba to Koyasan ~2h via Nankai train + cable car, then short bus/walk to Ekoin."
   },
   {
    "city": "Kyoto",
    "hours": 2.6,
    "time": "~2h35",
    "transfers": 3,
    "estimated": true,
    "text": "Kyoto to Namba ~45 min, then Nankai + cable car ~2h to Koyasan."
   }
  ],
  "note": ""
 },
 "photos": [],
 "links": {
  "website": "https://www.ekoin.jp/en/",
  "map": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=17557195955039242223",
  "jp_site": null,
  "flyertalk_reviews": [
   {
    "post": 178,
    "author": "RichardInSF",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35653550-post178.html"
   },
   {
    "post": 180,
    "author": "RichardInSF",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35654338-post180.html"
   }
  ],
  "flyertalk_discussion": [
   {
    "post": 435,
    "author": "Buster CT1K",
    "url": "https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36705567-post435.html"
   }
  ],
  "tripadvisor": []
 },
 "as_of": "2026-09-07"
}