A shukubo is a temple lodging in Japan that allows visitors to stay overnight within a Buddhist temple.[1] Originally, these facilities were designed to accommodate only monks and worshippers, but nowadays, in response to declining numbers of monk visitors, most facilities accept general tourists. Some temples, such as Mount Kōya, have open-air baths with onsen. Shukubo are now considered semi-secularized and in many towns are the only accommodations available.[2]
Originally, shukubo were used by bhikku and confraternities, and later by lay practitioners of Shugendō and mountain worship, and played major roles in the development of the latter two.[3] At the foot of Mount Haguro there were once 336 shukubo all linked to Shugendō.[4]
Networks of shukubo began to develop in Ise, Shima, Toba, and Futami-ura in a decades long construction boom.[5]
In the Edo period, visits to temples and shrines became popular, including visits to Ise, Kotohira-gū, and Zenkō-ji. Lodging houses were built at major temples and shrines in each area to accommodate ordinary pilgrims and tourists, forming a kind of tourism business, with specific areas connected to specific lodging houses.
In modern times, some shukubo have been converted into traditional inns and ryokan for tourists who want to experience the atmosphere of a temple.[6] Many modern-day operators of shukobo are descendants of families that ran shukubo when they were a purely religious matter. Originally, they only operated for one kosha but opening to the general public has substantially increased amounts of people staying at shukubo.[7]