Positioned between Japan’s ancient capital Kyoto and it’s largest lake Biwako stands
the sacred Mount Hieizan.
Home to Enryakuji, the headquarters of one of Japan’s most prominent Buddhist sects,
this mountain has for centuries been held as among the most culturally-important locations
in the country and today attracts droves of visitors eager to experience its incredible
atmosphere and history, along with the other visit-worthy attractions in its vicinity.
And this is exactly where we’re headed.
I'm Sam Evans, staff-writer for japan-guide.com.
And today I'm on assignment around Mt. Hieizan.
Here’s the plan:
We start the day in Osaka and ride the trains north to Lake Biwako, with one transfer along the way.
Upon arriving at the lake’s southern shores we’ll take a pleasant sightseeing cruise.
After this we’ll make a brief stop to explore Hiyoshi Shrine before taking the cable-car
up Mount Hieizan.
Once at the top we’ll spend the rest of the afternoon exploring historic Enryakuji
Temple’s vast grounds.
Finally we’ll descend the mountain and take the trains back to Osaka.
So, follow along as we take a short side trip from Osaka to Mount Hieizan.
So we are about to board the Michigan Sightseeing Cruise, an American-style paddle steamer that
leaves Otsu Port multiple times a day and give tours of Lake Biwa.
All aboard!
After a brief train ride, our next stop is Hiyoshi Shrine whose beautiful forested ground
sit at the base of Mount Hieizan.
From Hiyoshi Shrine we make the short walk to the nearby cable-car station to finally
head up the mountain.
Our first stop once arriving at the top of Mount Hieizan is the Enryakuji Kaikan where
we’ll partake in a traditional temple lunch.
So this is Shojin Ryori, Buddhist cuisine that is also vegetarian.
This rice part that we’ve got here which is locally sourced from Shiga prefecture where
we’re in now.
We have some tempura fried vegetables including Shiitake Mushrooms, one of my favorites and
an old favorite, yuba, which is tofu skin.
This is daizu tampaku a food made of beans that apparently tastes a lot like meat, so
I’m about to try it.
That’s delicious!
After lunch we’ll explore the main areas of Enryakuji Temple’s grounds.
We’ll start in the East area called “Todo”, then take a pleasant walking path to the west
area called “Saito”.
Enryakuji where we are now was founded around 1200 years ago on this mountain, Mount Hieizan,
and stands today as the headquarters of Tendai, which is one of the most important sects of
Japanese Buddhism.
We’re busy right now exploring the eastern part of the temple, but after this we are
going to go on a walk through the woods and get to the western side and explore that.
Now that we’ve seen both the east and west areas of Enryakuji it’s time to descend
the mountain.
This is a multi-step process.
First we’ll take a bus…
...then a ropeway…
...and lastly a cable-car…
...before riding the Eizan train line to Kyoto.
From here we’ll take the train back to Osaka and our trip will come to an end.
Thanks for joining me.
I hope this video has been enjoyable and perhaps even inspires some ideas, should you be planning
a day trip in the Kansai region.
For more information about Mount Hieizan or to watch another video, click the links on
the screen now, or head over to Japan-Guide.com, your comprehensive, up-to-date travel guide,
first hand from Japan.
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Happy travels.