Japan Heritage story
Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
女性とともに今に息づく女人高野
For more than a thousand years women were not allowed onto Mount Koya, the great Buddhist centre founded by Kukai. Four temples, called Nyonin Koya or 'Koya for women', listened to their prayers instead, and women still come to them today to pray for safe births, their children and their health.
Key facts
- Theme
- Forests and timber, Festivals and rituals
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Chubu, Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 女性とともに今に息づく女人高野
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～時を超え、時に合わせて見守り続ける癒しの聖地～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 奈良県（宇陀市）・大阪府（河内長野市）・和歌山県（九度山町、高野町）
The story
From its founding in 816, Mount Koya barred women, a rule only lifted in the late Meiji period. Women who wanted to pray near Kukai went instead to the Nyonin Koya. Jisonin, at the foot of the mountain, is where Kukai's mother stayed. Murouji was restored with gifts from the shogun Tsunayoshi's mother. Amanosan Kongoji was the prayer temple of an emperor's sister, and two nun sisters led it.
At each of Koya's seven entrances stood a Nyonindo, a women's hall where women prayed through the night. A tough ridge trail, the Nyonin-michi, linked them, and from it women caught glimpses of the temples they could not enter. Edo-period guidebooks drew these temples for travellers, and they look much the same today, surrounded by forest. Jisonin is known for breast-shaped votive plaques, and on Pink Ribbon Day a temple pagoda is lit pink for breast cancer awareness.
What to see
- Jisonin: the temple at the foot of Koya where Kukai's mother stayed, known for breast-shaped ema plaques.Google Maps 慈尊院 (opens in a new tab)
- Murouji: a mountain temple in Nara with graceful roofs and gentle Buddha statues.Google Maps 室生寺 (opens in a new tab)
- Amanosan Kongoji: a temple in Osaka linked to an imperial princess.Google Maps 天野山金剛寺 (opens in a new tab)
- Fudozakaguchi Nyonindo: the only surviving women's hall on Mount Koya.Google Maps 女人堂 高野山 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Wakayama prefecture guide, the Nara prefecture guide and the Osaka prefecture guide, and see more temples and shrines.
Good to know
- Hike part of the Choishi-michi from Jisonin up to Koya, a pilgrim trail that is part of a World Heritage site.
- At the Fudozakaguchi Nyonindo, look for the Otake Jizo, put up in 1745 by a widow from Edo.
- Walk a section of the Nyonin-michi ridge trail for forest views of Koya's temples.
Questions travellers ask
What does Nyonin Koya mean?
Koya for women. These temples welcomed women's prayers while Mount Koya itself was closed to them.
Can women visit Mount Koya now?
Yes. The ban ended in the late Meiji period, and everyone can visit.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Chikuma, city of the moon: the moon in every rice terrace
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Hinenosho: a medieval estate next to Kansai Airport
- Hirokawa: the tsunami levee built for a hundred generations
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.