A hunter with two dogs, according to the legend, is why Koyasan exists. When the monk Kukai, later called Kobo Daishi, returned from studying in China in the early ninth century, he threw a ritual three-pronged object into the air and asked it to land on a site for a mountain monastery. He found it hanging in a pine tree on a high plateau in the Kii mountains, and there he met a hunter, the god Karibamyojin, who led him to the place with his dogs. The hunter's mother, the goddess Niutsuhime, is honoured at the shrine that guards the approach. Kukai founded his monastery in 816, and Koyasan has been the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism since.
Niutsuhime-jinja is part of that mountain world, a Shinto shrine that sits alongside the Buddhist halls in the way that Japan's two religions often do. Koyasan today is a town of temples on a forested plateau about eight hundred metres up, with more than a hundred monasteries, many of which take overnight guests who eat vegetarian monastic meals and join the dawn prayers. Okunoin, the great cemetery that leads to Kobo Daishi's mausoleum, is lined with huge cedars and more than two hundred thousand tombs and memorials, and walking it at dusk is one of the strongest experiences in Japan.
The ride up is half the pleasure. From Hashimoto, on the Kinokawa river, the road climbs through steep forest in a series of hairpins, with the plateau opening out above you. Beyond, the Koya-Ryujin Skyline, a long ridge road, runs south, with views across the folded Kii mountains. It is cool at altitude in summer, and in winter snow and ice are likely, so chains or a decision to wait may be called for. The fog can close in quickly, and sudden showers drift over the ridges, so a rain layer is wise.
Your route heads on to Jisho-ji, better known as Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion in Kyoto, and it is a long day across the Kii highlands and the Nara basin. Fuel is available in Hashimoto, and in the town of Koyasan there is a small selection, but do not run the tank down. The hill town has little in the way of nightlife, and dinner is early, so plan your arrival for the afternoon. For many riders, a night in a temple lodging, with its silence, its tatami floor and its morning chanting, makes the long ride worth it.