町石道は、山の麓にある慈尊院と高野山の壇上伽藍にある奥之院をつなぐ参詣道です。伝説によると、高野山と真言宗の開祖である空海は、しばしばこの道を通って慈尊院で余生を過ごしていた母を訪問しました。高野山が開かれたときから、さまざまな背景を持つ人々が参詣してきました。
この参詣道はおよそ24キロにわたって続いており、109メートルごとに町石と呼ばれる石の道標があり、町石道の名はここから取られました。道はよく手入れされており、ハイキングをする人も参詣者も道に沿って置かれた217の石柱を容易にたどることができます。
町石道は、歩く人が高野山の開祖の足跡をたどることを楽しめるようになっており、目的地のみでなくそこにたどり着くまでの旅路自体も大事にしています。この道は歩ける曼荼羅（胎蔵界五仏の象徴）ともされています。55町石の先は聖域とされているため、信仰の場所であることを踏まえて周囲にはご配慮ください。

訪れた人は、「山川草木番皆成仏」という弘法大師の言葉に思いを馳せてみましょう。

The Choishi Michi Trail
The Choishi Michi (Stone Marker Trail) is a pilgrimage route that connects Jisonin Temple, at the foot of the mountain, to Okunoin Temple in the monastic complex of Koyasan. According to legend, the priest Kukai (known posthumously as Kobo Daishi; 774835), the founder of Koyasan and Shingon Buddhism, often took this route to visit his mother, who was spending the final years of her life at Jisonin Temple. People from all walks of life have been making the pilgrimage from the time of Koyasan’s foundation.
The route stretches over approximately 24 kilometers, marked at 109-meter intervals by the choishi stone markers from which it takes its name. It is well tended, so hikers and pilgrims alike can easily follow the 217 ancient stone pillars that mark the route. The weathering of the stone markers is a reminder of the Buddhist concept of impermanence and the inevitability of change, and the importance of taking each journey one step at a time.
This trail is about the journey itself as much as the destination, presented in hopes that visitors will enjoy tracing the footsteps of Koyasan’s founder. The path is considered a walkable mandala, a symbol of the realm of the five buddhas of compassion. As the area past the 55th marker is sacred ground, please be considerate of the spiritual nature of the environment. Visitors may want to contemplate the words of Kukai: “Even the trees and blades of grass may become buddhas.”
Those planning on undertaking the full route should bring enough food and water for the trek, which usually takes around seven to eight hours for hikers in good physical condition. A tea house at Yatate (near the 60th stone marker, about two-thirds of the way) is one of very few places where refreshments are available for purchase.
Koyasan was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

The Choishi Stone Markers
The stone pillars that mark the trail are called choishi. Cho is an ancient measurement of length equivalent to 109 meters, while ishi means stone. Unsurprisingly, the stone pillars are placed about 109 meters apart.
Each pillar is about 3 meters tall and is sculpted in the shape of a gorinto (five-elements pagoda). Each section of a gorinto has a specific meaning, representing the five elements that make up the world and the five colors of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. From top to bottom, these elements are space, wind, fire, water, and earth. Each one is inscribed with the Sanskrit name of a buddha or bodhisattva, the name of the sculptor, and the year it was created.
These sacred pillars replaced the original wooden markers that the priest Kukai (known posthumously as Kobo Daishi; 774835), the founder of Koyasan, is said to have placed along the route during his ascent. Most of the 180 choishi between Jisonin Temple and the Konpon Daito pagoda date back to the Kamakura period (11851333), when the quality of stone carving was high. An additional 36 pillars mark the section of the trail between Konpon Daito and Okunoin Cemetery, the traditional destination for pilgrims making the climb.