Welcome to Henjoson-in. This large traditional Buddhist Temple received his name from the Dainichi Nyorai, the Universal Illuminating Deity known as Henjoson-in. The rooms have a relaxing garden view and are spacious. In this temple the food is plentiful, "Shojin-Ryori" (vegetarian Kaiseki) is served in the large dining room. Henjoson-in has a beautiful wooden bath with a nice view. During the Edo Period several major artists stayed at Henjoson-in. There is a morning prayer that starts at 6:00 am from April to September and at 6:30 am from October to March. As guests of the Henjoson-in you are invited to attend or simply watch these prayer services. The prayer service is about 40 minutes long.

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Ryokan Reviews:

• Incredible Experience!

  Elisabetta

  Month of Visit: September

  Country Of Reviewer: United States

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  Hello Everyone, What a fantastic, authentic, and easy experience staying at Henjoson-in! Booking through this website was simple and responses took only a day or two, at most. (13 Hours time difference between Japan and New York). After booking, we received emails with what to expect and how to travel there. We arrived via train, ropeway car and finally a bus, traveling from Kyoto to Mt. Koya. The buses were easy to take after the Rrpeway car and people were there to help. The email sent from Japan Guest Houses even told us the bus to take. English maps were provided and everyone spoke enough English to be helpful. The Monastery was beautiful and peaceful! We checked in, were told of dinner and breakfast options, and invited to attend the morning prayer. NB: You could not wear your own shoes anywhere inside the Monastery. You took them off at the Entrance and were given a set of slippers. We settled into our rooms and went out to explore Kyasan, returning for dinner at 6:00pm. Dinner was great! So many dishes! Tofu was the main focus and Sake and Beer were available for purchase. NB: You are eating a traditional Japanese vegetarian meal! Please know, for many Westerners, there may be tastes and textures new to your palette. They were all great, except for one or two. There was plenty of food and rice and tea! Dinner was served in a main dining area and we could take all of the time to eat. We retired to our rooms after dinner, where we found our beds prepared for us. NB: We slept on the floor on about 5-inch thick futon-like mattresses with very warm blankets and a comforter. The blankets were a bit musty but very clean. Many two-star hotels in the US have worse bedding. We had a small TV in our room and a small porch. We asked for a 'private' bath and were surprised to find a private soaking-tub in our room. It was gorgeous! Our room also had a toilet and a shower and a sink. I suspect asking for a 'private' bath gave us the soaking tub. There are rooms which DO NOT have a toilet (bathrooms with toilets were down the hall) so please be sure to clarify when you book. Henjoson-in locks its doors at 10:00pm (22:00). Henjoson-in also had a gender-specific hot-springs soaking area which was very clean with a large soaking spring with great hot spring water! We attended service the next morning at 6:30am and was so welcomed and enchanted. Everyone respected us and we were so honored to be there in the back taking it all in. Breakfast was served at 7:30 after the service and consisted of a traditional Japanese vegetarian breakfast. Again, there was so much food! There was some fresh Asian pears and much tofu, all really delicious. (no coffee but there were vending machines which served hot coffee and also beer.) We were able to leave our luggage there after checking out so as to explore the Koyasan. There were about 15-20 Japanese people also staying that night who seemed to be on a pilgrimage to Koyasan. If you are looking for an authentic experience, where respect and hospitality is offered, go ahead and book! Best, Liz

• Amazing enter stay at Henjoson in

  Hem

  Month of Visit: January

  Country Of Reviewer: USA

  Atmosphere Rating - 1

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  My husband and I loved our stay at the Henjoson in. Everything about it was perfect- check in, room, the hot pool, the food, the morning prayer ceremony. I recommend it very highly. Only con for some people may be the price but then again this is a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you Japanese Guest Houses!

• not so spiritual...

  Month of Visit: October

  Country Of Reviewer:

  Atmosphere Rating - 3

  Food Rating - 3

  Staff Rating - 3

  Location Rating - 4

  Room Rating - 4

  My stay at Henjoson-in was actually pretty disappointing -- or perhaps I went with the wrong expectations. There were very few monks present in the temple and those I saw were efficiently working in service, so dressed in practical clothes and with a worldly attitude. (Most dispiriting was catching a slew of them slouched in chairs staring at their smartphones.) The 2 (!) monks who led morning prayers were in traditional robes but the service was rote and uninspiring; we visitors did not even sit on the floor but far removed from the altar on polyurethane benches. Food was plentiful but bland (no surprise); is salt also forbidden from the Shojin-Ryori diet? Of course the temple is an old building with no insulation so as soon as temps drop, it gets quite uncomfortably cold. Space heaters in rooms help some but be sure to take plenty of warm layers!

• One night family stay in august

  Yvan

  Date of Review: August, 2018

  Month of Visit: August

  Country Of Reviewer: France

  Atmosphere Rating - 3

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 4

  Room Rating - 4

  Very good experience for the accomodation and food (even if a little hard to eat dry fish at 6am !). The place is nice, onsen very nice. We have dinner in a common room with other guests which is not what we have expected. We also did not see anything of the monks life and contacts with monks are just for check in ant check out. Contact were very friendly Morning prayer in a small room lacks of interest. Four our opinion, Koyan San is too much tourism oriented and the religious atmosphere has disappeared. Temple, cimetery are also a very nice place to see.

• Henjoson-in

  Mary

  Month of Visit: May

  Country Of Reviewer:

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  The accomodation at Henjoson-in was wonderful. Everything was perfect. The staff were delightful & so helpful. The peony roses in the gardens were sublime. Location location, near the cemetery, bus stop, only a short walk to any of the major attractions. The meals were so delicious & filling. Ross & Mary can highly recommend this Ryokan.

• The perfect beggining for our trip

  Lorena

  Date of Review: April, 2018

  Month of Visit: April

  Country Of Reviewer: Spain

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 3

  Staff Rating - 4

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  All was really awesome. Staying at a temple (specifically Henjoson-in) was a great japanese traditional experience. There were other japanese guests so it's not a tourist attraction. There are indoor gender separated baths (onsen type, with hot water) that opens from 4pm to 11pm. Here you can have a shower and then a bath. The only negative thing to say is about the meals. They are vegetarian (we expected that part) but not too tasty from our point of view. Breakfast was better than dinner.

• Absolutely wonderful!

  Kristy

  Month of Visit: November

  Country Of Reviewer: USA

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  We had a fantastic stay at Henjoson-in. We were absolutely stunned by our room and meals! Dinner was beautifully prepared, and we had no problem finishing everything set in front of us - it was so delicious! The meal was quite large, so come hungry (since it's rude to leave behind wasted, unfinished food). The onsen had a beautiful view of the garden (check out the second, smaller bath that's soaked with tea I believe?). The prayer service in the morning was also a great experience (please don't wear the yukata! That would be very rude). Monks were available for any assistance, but mostly stayed out of your way since they had other duties. I highly recommend staying at Henjoson-in!

• Great experience!

  Alba

  Date of Review: August, 2017

  Month of Visit: July

  Country Of Reviewer: Spain

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  Our stay at Henjoson-in was a great experience. The temple is amazing, huge and near the village's main attractions. We had a warm welcome. The room was unbelievable: it was big and with a view to the garden. There was a nice bath tub where we could relax at night. The food was abundant and very different from Occidental meals! Staff was helpful and could speak English. In the early morning, we joined the Buddhist ceremony and it was such an experience! We would definetly repeat our stay at Henjoson-in.

• Excellent Stay!

  Francesco

  Month of Visit: April

  Country Of Reviewer: Malta

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  Extremely welcoming in a central location to most of the cultural areas in Mount Koyasan. Room with the view of the garden. We also tried the onsen, a great way to relax your tired muscles. We attended the morning prayer which we found to be quite an intriguing experience. The food was great, tastes which you would never expect! Overall amazing!

• Henjoson-in the amazing!

  Month of Visit: December

  Country Of Reviewer:

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  The best place we could've stayed! A wonderful accommodation, extremely welcoming. The room had a view of the gorgeous garden. Dinner and breakfast were delicious. December is a bit chilly and nothing could've have been better than the green tea waiting for us. :) The onsen is magnificent, a gret wy to freshen up and warm up! We also attended the morning prayer. While I don't know what was being said, it was a very grounding experience. They even held our bags the day we checked out so we could do some more exploring before we left.

• Lost in translation

  Month of Visit: April

  Country Of Reviewer: Belgium

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 4

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  Enjoyable experience

• excellent!

  Month of Visit: July

  Country Of Reviewer: Italy

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  interesting experience from all points of view

• Barry

  Month of Visit: September

  Country Of Reviewer:

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  We had excellent ryokan rooms at Henjo-son. The food, vegetarian, of course, was excellent. Grounds, staff support (though with limited English), were also terrific. Location, quite close to the entrance to the graveyard of graveyards, also a nice plus.

• Stunning!

  Month of Visit: October

  Country Of Reviewer:

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 5

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  Words cannot truly express our experience at Henjoson-in/Koyasan. Arriving in the dark of night only glimpsing slivers of the illuminated temples through the towering Japanese cedar trees. This set the mood perfectly. We were warmly greeted upon arrival at Henjoson and checked into our beautiful room with minimal fuss. I really don't want to give too much away. It was the element of surprise and discovery that made our stay so enchanting. I would rate 6 stars if I could!

• Delightful Christmas

  Month of Visit: December

  Country Of Reviewer:

  Atmosphere Rating - 5

  Food Rating - 5

  Staff Rating - 4

  Location Rating - 5

  Room Rating - 5

  This was a wonderful experience, with great food and atmosphere. The onsen was wonderful, and the setting and location was great for exploring. December was very chilly through the corridors and common areas, but the room and dining space were cozy. The one thing we wish from the experience was that we would be allowed to see a bit more of how the monks really lived. The meals we had were wonderful, but we were curious to know what they eat for their dinners and what they do throughout their day. That being said, great experience.