When I was 18 I traveled to Koya-san to begin and end my Shikoku Pilgrimage. I collected the calligraphy and stamps unique to all 108 temples (including the 20 bangai) along the 1000 mile trail. When I returned to Koya-san I went to the calligraphy window at the temple to have the final page of my nokyocho stamped and signed. The monk at the window took my book, flipping through the ink heavy pages that had taken me months of lonely backpacking to fill. Finally he arrived at the last blank page. He filled it in without question. Black ink strokes and three deliberate red stamps over the black completed my journey. He closed the book and handed it back to me through the window. We looked at one another for a moment in silence. I was sure this monk could sense the power this moment held for me. After a pause he raised his hand and pointed. I followed his finger to a sign on the right of the window. It took me a second to realize I owed him ¥1,000.<p>Koya-san is a magical place.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku_Pilgrimage" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku_Pilgrimage</a>
For those looking to create their own webpage like this, it looks like it was based on Lucas Bebber's Storytelling Map:<p><a href="http://tympanus.net/codrops/2015/12/16/animated-map-path-for-interactive-storytelling/" rel="nofollow">http://tympanus.net/codrops/2015/12/16/animated-map-path-for...</a>
I did this for two weeks back last spring. Walking and hitchhiking, camping in my tent on mountain tops and road stations. Best thing I've done in Japan I think. But be prepared if you set out to do this - the mountains don't lend themselves to camping that well and sometimes it actually takes a couple of hours to find a place to put up a tent in a safe way. You should also have some grasp of Japanese culture and preferably the language first - don't be the (in their eyes) ignorant and disrespectful foreigner who comes and abuses the opportunity. Camping in public areas is not really commonplace in Japan, so you want to be discrete and low-key about it. And yes, Koya-san is awesome in the true sense of the word. You can get lost there, place is yuge. It's got the best graves.
Koya-san is one of the most memorable places in Japan. I can recommend visiting in the deep winter when it's very cold with lots of snow and the atmosphere is otherworldly.