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Okunoin Cemetery
Mt. Koya, Japan
Why you’re visiting: The awesome monuments at this Buddhist pilgrimage site include everything from spaceships to eternally-lit lantern temples.
This forested site on the side of Mt. Koya is where Kobo Daishi -- the founder of Shingon Buddhism -- lies in eternal meditation and, as such, it's where many devoted followers want to be buried. So many, in fact, that it’s the largest cemetery in Japan. Grave markers line the path to Daishi’s mausoleum, and each salvation-seeker’s tombstone is more unconventional/weird than the next -- look for the memorial dedicated by a local pesticide company to termites, and for statues that mimick monks and coffee cups. You can't make this up, people.
THE 13 COOLEST CEMETERIES TO VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE
Okunoin Cemetery
Mt. Koya, Japan
Why you’re visiting: The awesome monuments at this Buddhist pilgrimage site include everything from spaceships to eternally-lit lantern temples.
This forested site on the side of Mt. Koya is where Kobo Daishi -- the founder of Shingon Buddhism -- lies in eternal meditation and, as such, it's where many devoted followers want to be buried. So many, in fact, that it’s the largest cemetery in Japan. Grave markers line the path to Daishi’s mausoleum, and each salvation-seeker’s tombstone is more unconventional/weird than the next -- look for the memorial dedicated by a local pesticide company to termites, and for statues that mimick monks and coffee cups. You can't make this up, people.