Paying on arrival at Koyasan

Hello, I would like to stay at either Fukuchi-in or Ichijou-in on Koyasan at the end of May. However, on two different websites I've tried, including Japanican, I was not offered the "payment on arrival" option. Is there a way to book with credit card and pay the 10% booking fee in advance but the rest on arrival? I was only given the option of paying in full with card at the time of booking.

If these specific temple lodgings do not have the option I am looking for, do you have any recommendations for good places on Koyasan that allow payment on arrival? I have a card so can reserve with it for cancellation purposes, but just wish to pay in full when I get there.

Thank you!

From what I know Koyasan being as isolated as it is requires pre arrangements if guests are staying.

Thus, payment in full is necessary. If this is something you are afraid of, you could try non-temple lodging. There are hotels in Koya San.

When I've stayed in Koyasan, we made reservations directly with the temple that we were staying at then paid on arrival. Fukuchi-in however seems to have a good online english reservation system, but it requires online payment. If you want to pay on arrival then try making your reservation over the phone and see if that is possible.

I stayed at Ekoin when I went to Koyasan last year, and paid on arrival after booking directly through their website.

Hello all,

Thank you for the information! As for your stay at Ekoin, I am wondering if you were offered the "cemetery walk" experience at check-in. My friend told me about it, but it only seem to be mentioned on the Japanese version of the website. However, my friend speaks English only and an English monk even took her on the walk! Either English or Japanese would be okay for me, though :) I probably could understand about 30%-- plus, the experience would be awesome in either language! But, was this even offered to you when you went?

I thought I would also address why I couldn't pay with card. Well, I have an American debit card with visa compatibility, but there isn't enough money in the account to cover the full cost of the stay (I live in Japan and am therefore paid in yen). So, I was wondering if I could just pay the reservation fee upfront with the American card, then pay the rest with my yen in person. That way, I wouldn't have to do a wire transfer of my yen to dollars all the way to America, which would take some time and costs a fee as well! Wish I had a Japanese credit card, haha :)

Anyway, thank you everyone. I will be staying at Ekoin :)

Oh! One thing that I do wonder about is the fact that Ekoin's website allowed me to reserve without a card number, yet they say they will "charge" me 50% if I were to cancel the day before, etc. Of course I would not do something like that without finding a way to pay them in person, but I wonder how they get other people to pay the cancellation fee if they don't have a card number. Anyway, I hope that the reservation is legitimate! I received a confirmation e-mail, so it seems so!

They have all your other details, so if you refused to give them payment they would probably contact the police!

Ekoin does not offer a cemetery tour, but it is easy to do yourself - my friend and I did. Just catch the bus to the cemetery, and then walk around to your heart's content.

I wonder how they get other people to pay the cancellation fee if they don't have a card number.

I've always wondered about this, as it is a common practice but a seemingly unenforceable policy, and I doubt it's worth the hotel's time or effort to go after one night's cancellation fee. I polled some Japanese friends, and several said they would pay the cancellation fee even if they weren't forced to, so I think it's just honor system and some will pay because they feel obligated while other will not.

those are derived from the thinking differences that people are always doing in evil or in honesty.