Walking around Kongo Sanmai-in in solitude felt almost surreal - this stunning Tahoto pagoda has been standing here since the 1200s, built by a grieving mother for her son, and somehow we had it all to ourselves. The curved roofs of this two-story pagoda create these perfect lines against the mountain sky, and every wooden statue tells its own eight-hundred-year-old story.

Something about being alone here lets you really absorb the details - the way the afternoon light hits those distinctive curved eaves, how the wooden statues seem to shift expression depending on where you stand. It's hard to believe other tourists haven't discovered this national treasure yet.

There's a particular poignancy in knowing it was commissioned by Masako Hojo for her son. Standing there in the quiet, you can feel the weight of that maternal love that turned grief into something so enduringly beautiful. That's what makes Koyasan special - even its "lesser-known" spots carry centuries of human stories in their beams and pillars.