What Is Kongobuji Temple?
Kongobuji Temple (金剛峯寺, Kongōbu-ji) is the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism on Mount Koya in Koya Town, Wakayama Prefecture, founded in 816 by Kobo Daishi (Kukai), and the great main hall at the heart of its Honbo was rebuilt in 1862. Kukai is said to have taken the temple's name from an esoteric sutra.
The name does not refer to a single building. Kongobuji describes the whole mountaintop as its precinct, so all of Koyasan is the temple. Its principal hall is the Kondo on the Danjo Garan, and 117 sub-temples stand across the mountain, 51 of which take in pilgrims as temple lodgings.
The complex that visitors enter as "Kongobuji" is the Honbo, descended from Seiganji, a temple built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and renamed Kongobuji in the Meiji era. Its main building measures 60 meters east to west and about 70 meters north to south.
Cultural Properties of Kongobuji
This group gathers buildings owned by Kongobuji: one National Treasure, eight Important Cultural Properties and twelve Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The National Treasure is the Fudo Hall on the Danjo Garan, designated in 1952.
The Important Cultural Properties include the Daimon gate, the Tokugawa Mausoleum, the Okunoin Sutra Repository and the Sanno-in Main Hall, together with those designated in 2024: the Honbo, the Kondo and Konpon Daito, and nine Garan halls including the Miedo. With the concrete-rebuilt Kondo and Daito now protected, the twentieth-century revival of the Garan is itself part of the record.
The twelve Registered Tangible Cultural Properties were registered in 2025. Nine form the reception complex built from the early Showa period on the site of Kozanji, west of the Honbo: the Okuden, Annex, Reception Room, linking corridor, Imperial Envoy Gate, boundary wall, New Shoin, Shinshoan tea house and Ajikando. The other three stand on the Danjo Garan: the Hexagonal Sutra Repository, the Bell Tower and the Purification Fountain.
Walking the Kongobuji Precinct
The Daimon gate stands at the entrance to the mountaintop. From there the route runs east to the Danjo Garan, the Honbo and finally Okunoin. The Tokugawa Mausoleum is also within the mountain precinct and can be visited for a fee.
The Danjo Garan is where Kukai began building, and its halls, from the Chumon gate to the Kondo, the Konpon Daito and the Fudo Hall, are best visited in the traditional order that Kongobuji recommends. From the east end of the Garan, the Jabara-michi path leads east to the front of the Honbo.
Inside the Honbo, the visitor route passes the great main hall and inner study rooms and looks out over Banryutei, a 2,340-square-meter rock garden said to be among the largest in Japan, with the reception buildings beyond it.
Getting to Kongobuji and Visiting
Take the Nankai Koya Line to Gokurakubashi and change to the Koyasan Cable Car, which climbs 328 meters in about 5 minutes. From Koyasan Station, Nankai Rinkan buses run to stops including Kongobuji-mae, Senjuinbashi, Kondo-mae and Okunoin-mae. There is also parking at Kongobuji.
Main admission fees: the Kongobuji Honbo costs 1,000 yen for junior high school students and older and 300 yen for elementary school children; the Kondo and the Konpon Daito cost 500 yen each; the Tokugawa Mausoleum costs 200 yen. A combined ticket covering these sites and the precepts ceremony is 2,500 yen. Kongobuji, the Kondo and the Daito open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.); the Tokugawa Mausoleum opens from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Photography is prohibited inside the Kongobuji Honbo (except Banryutei), inside the Garan halls, and beyond the Gobyobashi bridge at Okunoin. Modest dress is expected. Fees and hours can change, so check the temple's website before visiting.
References
- Kongobuji: About Kongobuji
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/kongobuji/
- Kongobuji: Highlights within the temple
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/kongobuji/jinai.html
- Kongobuji: Places to see on Koyasan
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/meguru/
- Kongobuji: Admission fees
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/kongobuji/charges/
- Kongobuji: Visitor guidance
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/guidance/
- Kongobuji: Access
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/access/
- Wakayama Cultural Properties: Kongobuji Honbo
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-spot-454/
- Kongobuji: Nine Kongobuji buildings to be registered (2024)
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/sp/news/2024/11/22/6687/
- Kongobuji: Three Danjo Garan buildings to be registered (2025)
- https://www.koyasan.or.jp/sp/news/2025/03/21/6824/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Council recommendation on registered buildings (November 22, 2024)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/koho_hodo_oshirase/hodohappyo/pdf/94136901_01.pdf
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Council recommendation on registered buildings (March 21, 2025)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/koho_hodo_oshirase/hodohappyo/pdf/94187801_01.pdf
- Wakayama Tourism: Koyasan Cable Car
- https://www.wakayama-kanko.or.jp/spots/detail_1015.html
Last verified: 2026.09.23
Basic Information
| Name | Kongobuji Temple |
|---|---|
| Location | Koyasan, Koyacho, Ito District, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Owner | Kongobu-ji Temple Religious Corporation |
| Designation | National Treasure (1) · Important Cultural Property (7) · Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (12) |
| Coordinates | 34.21423, 135.58250 |
