Pilgrim Hut No.13 Saga

General Description: About 10 km from Iwamotoji (T37), located at the entrance of Kobushi no Sato Onsen along Route 56. It is more than 70 kilometres to Kongōfukuji Temple (T38), depending on the exact route taken. Kobushi no Sato is a reasonably large hotel in the middle of no where. It used to be a famous stop called Saga Onsen but it closed for a while and then re-opened with a new identity. The hut carries the name of the previous onsen. The shape of the hut is a circle with a castle gate on all sides, imitating a mandala. The stone statue of Kobo Daishi is enshrined on the northeast side with his back toward Koyasan.

1/10/2019 Comments: This hut has sprouted considerable vegetation since its construction and is subsequently well protected against wind and sun as well as rain. It has a fully open upper walls, but despite this it is one of the more private huts I saw due to the vegetation. There is a small square table in the middle of the hut and small curved benches on the walls. The benches are sufficient to take a small afternoon nap without too much discomfort. However it is only 4 or 5 metres away from highway 56, so somewhat noisy. The adjacent Kobushi no Sato, in addition to water, a toilet and the baths also has a restaurant, a food shop with a small range of goods and a reasonably large selection of Henro paraphernalia. At the time of my visit, there were also numerous drink vending machines at both ends of the car park.

There are not many other shops nearby. However, there is a Post Office and a medical clinic nearby and Kaina railway station is about 1km away.

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