Mount Koya Cuisine Hanabishi

Our restaurant has been serving Koyasan cuisine since the early Meiji period, when women were not allowed to enter the temple. We were honored to cook and cater for the Emperor and Empress of Japan when they visited Koyasan in 1971, and for the Emperor and Empress of Japan when they visited Koyasan in 1977. Koyasan cuisine is a spiritual dish. For over a thousand years since Kukai (Kobo Daishi) founded Koyasan, the meals of many monks have been provided with wild plants and other vegetables, and this tradition has been passed down to the present day. Shojin cuisine values ​​the sense of the seasons, and strictly follows the combination of the five methods, five flavors, and five colors. The five methods are cooking methods of "raw," "boiled," "grilled," "fried," and "steamed," the five flavors are "soy sauce," "vinegar," "salt," "sugar," and "spicy," and the five colors are "red," "blue," "black," "yellow," and "white." As we value the so-called "eye food," we teach the combination of five colors, season ingredients with five tastes, and balance flavors with five methods, which are fundamental to the culinary world. We offer hospitality with traditional techniques and the taste of the changing seasons of Mt. Sacred Mountain over the years. We offer only the finest vegetarian dishes that you can enjoy as if appreciating the bounty of nature. Please enjoy to your heart's content, adding a touch of elegance to your memories of Mt. Koya.