Photo/Illutration The main hall of Rengejo-in, a temple lodging at Mount Koyasan in Koya, Wakayama Prefecture (Hideki Ito)

KOYA, Wakayama Prefecture--For the well-heeled tourist who wants a heavenly experience, a temple lodging facility at Mount Koyasan awaits to pamper them.

Rengejo-in here has been named among the top five accommodation facilities for wealthy foreign tourists to stay in Japan.

The temple was recognized for offering experiences to entertain guests, including a meditation session in the Shingon Buddhist style known as "ajikan," in addition to its guest rooms combining modernity and tradition.

The facility is recommended by the Tokyo-based Luxury Japan Tourism Organization, a general incorporated association, which aims to attract wealthy visitors from across the world.

The organization hosted its first Luxury Japan Award contest last year as part of its efforts to promote luxurious hotels and ryokan inns to overseas tourists.

"The fact that Rengejo-in was selected (in the top five) has served as a great springboard to promote it to the world when inbound demand for Mount Koyasan is beginning to recover," said an official from the tourism promotion section at the Wakayama prefectural government.

A review committee headed by famed architect Kengo Kuma selected Rengejo-in as one of the best five lodgings.

Ajikan, which has been handed down at Mount Koyasan, is performed every evening at the main hall, gaining popularity among tourists from home and abroad.

Standard guest rooms are floored with tatami straw mats and are separated from each other by "fusuma" sliding doors.

The Special Suite is complete with a tatami room and also a wood-floor room furnished with beds.

The suite is also equipped with a private bath and a toilet, while the interior walls are decorated with "fusuma-e" sliding door paintings that have been passed down at the temple.

A beautifully maintained garden carpeted with white sand can be seen from the room.

This year marks the 1,250th anniversary of the birth of Kukai (774-835), a Buddhist priest also known as Kobo Daishi, who founded the Shingon school of Buddhism.

To commemorate the occasion, a memorial service will be held at Mount Koyasan, which is closely associated with Kukai, from May 14 to July 9, centering around his birthday on June 15.

Aside from Rengejo-in, the other four lodging facilities that also placed in the top five are Zaborin in Hokkaido, which received the top Grand Prize; Otani Sanso Bettei Otozure in Yamaguchi Prefecture; Kamenoi Besso in Oita Prefecture; and HakuVillas in Hokkaido.

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