As you wind on the train from Osaka up towards Koyasan, a mountainous Buddhist sanctuary for around 1,200 years, the stations get smaller, the tracks begin to meander and the Japanese umbrella pines become more dense. There are lush green views opening between the track-side trees, allowing you to peer down on little villages with sloped brick roofs. By the time you reach the funicular railway towards the end of your journey, it’s easy to comprehend why this area is considered sacred. It draws you further up into the peaks… This was to be my first stay in a Ryokan – a traditional Japanese travellers inn. Through the wooden lantern-flanked gate I walked, past the manicured garden of auburn and green and the broom-swirled pebbles, under the curved roof, shoes off, slippers on…   STAY: Koyasan Fukuchiin is an inn, a temple (or shukubo – meaning temple lodgings in Japanese), an onsen (Japanese bathhouse) and more. Traditional Japanese rooms feature tatami mats, low dining tables and sliding shoji doors. It’s customary to wear the provided …