Gyokuzoin — Local services in Heguri

As another reviewer said, this was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Japan. This temple, on Mount Shigi-san, is very accommodating and modernized enough for Westerners. We had a very large corner room with a beautiful view of the wooded valley, so peaceful after a visit to the large cities of Japan.||||The attentive service was far beyond what we expected from the very warm reception to the outrageous display and presentation of our meal. If we needed anything, I would walk down the hall and a staff member seemed to immediately appear to respond to my request. The food (we had the meat-based option) was excellent and presented kaiseki style. There was such a variety of seafood, vegetables and sauces, each artistically presented that it was overwhelming. And, we experienced the same for breakfast. Such an unexpected treat! Definitely book your meals here if you stay (there is nowhere else on the mountain to eat, anyway). ||||Walking around the temple (and there is another close by) on the paved trails either in the daylight or in the evening with the hundreds of stone lanterns lighting your way is a magical experience. The evening walk is not to be missed. ||||When we were staying here, there was a 5:00 a.m. fire ceremony by one of the monks. Beautiful, peaceful and dramatic! After, he came over and explained it to us in English - we were astonished. There is also a 6:00 a.m. chanting with the monks, but be sure to get directions as each of these ceremonies are held in different locations (this is a large temple complex) and we couldn't find the chanting. We did find the chanting and drumming of the monks at the other temple on the mountain, but regret we didn't ask for more clarification the evening prior which I considered and feel was my negligence. Again, the service was excellent and they would were accommodating in the extreme!||||Something helpful, if you've not stayed in a temple: you will be sharing the showers (gender separated), though in this temple we were allowed to request a time to bathe and it seemed that the communal bath/showers would likely be closed to others at our time. Also, the toilets and sinks are outside of the rooms, but have privacy as they would have in a large public restroom (men's and women's separate). Also, the air-conditioning in our room worked wonderfully and there was a small common-area with a television, if you felt the need for that. There was also wi-fi available in the common area, as well.||||We have very happy memories of this stay and I recommend it as a lovely break in the natural Japan with some of its true culture...

As another reviewer said, this was definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Japan. This temple, on Mount Shigi-san, is very accommodating and modernized enough for Westerners. We had a very large corner room with a beautiful view of the wooded valley, so peaceful after a visit to the large cities of Japan.||||The attentive service was far beyond what we expected from the very warm reception to the outrageous display and presentation of our meal. If we needed anything, I would walk down the hall and a staff member seemed to immediately appear to respond to my request. The food (we had the meat-based option) was excellent and presented kaiseki style. There was such a variety of seafood, vegetables and sauces, each artistically presented that it was overwhelming. And, we experienced the same for breakfast. Such an unexpected treat! Definitely book your meals here if you stay (there is nowhere else on the mountain to eat, anyway). ||||Walking around the temple (and there is another close by) on the paved trails either in the daylight or in the evening with the hundreds of stone lanterns lighting your way is a magical experience. The evening walk is not to be missed. ||||When we were staying here, there was a 5:00 a.m. fire ceremony by one of the monks. Beautiful, peaceful and dramatic! After, he came over and explained it to us in English - we were astonished. There is also a 6:00 a.m. chanting with the monks, but be sure to get directions as each of these ceremonies are held in different locations (this is a large temple complex) and we couldn't find the chanting. We did find the chanting and drumming of the monks at the other temple on the mountain, but regret we didn't ask for more clarification the evening prior which I considered and feel was my negligence. Again, the service was excellent and they would were accommodating in the extreme!||||Something helpful, if you've not stayed in a temple: you will be sharing the showers (gender separated), though in this temple we were allowed to request a time to bathe and it seemed that the communal bath/showers would likely be closed to others at our time. Also, the toilets and sinks are outside of the rooms, but have privacy as they would have in a large public restroom (men's and women's separate). Also, the air-conditioning in our room worked wonderfully and there was a small common-area with a television, if you felt the need for that. There was also wi-fi available in the common area, as well.||||We have very happy memories of this stay and I recommend it as a lovely break in the natural Japan with some of its true culture...

This was a last minute booking I made when there was some confusion with my Kyoto booking. This is one of the rare places where the real thing is so much better than the impressive photos. We arrived by taxi after sunset and ran after our driver dragging our luggage up hundreds of steps, lit all the way with stone lanterns. We were given instructions to catch a cab from JR Oji station which is on the Nara/Osaka line. Our cab driver couldn't believe we would be sleeping at the temple, hence the escort into the complex. There is actually a back entrance where you don't have to carry your luggage up stairs. It's possible to have dinner here but we were told we would have to arrive by 5.00pm and as we were travelling from Kyoto via Nara we skipped the early dinner. A multi-course Japanese breakfast was included in the rate and was fantastic, I'd recommend doing the dinner! The rooms are tatami with futons and shared bathroom facilities in a modern building. Japanese public baths are located in the basement. There were two other rooms occupied when we stayed and the bathrooms were next to our room, basins in the corridor, dormitory style. The experience is the highlight here. We rose at 5:00 am to attend a Buddhist fire ceremony conducted in a small nearby temple, a unique experience. We watched the sunrise over distant misty mountains afterwards and wandered around the many other temples in the complex where different Buddhist ceremonies were being performed by the monks. We were guided to these by the sounds of chanting and drumming. Following our multi-course Japanese breakfast we walked to the shrine at the top of the mountain above the complex where we met two local Japanese men, one who spoke English and introduced his companion as a well known Haiku poet. They pointed out individual mountains in the distance and their spiritual significance. The poet shared his sweets with us and gave us a coin each to deposit at the shrine and explained the rituals of visiting shrines and temples, we dropped in our coin and rang the bell. Staying here is a unique experience, an...