Travel / Tourism Spots in Arashiyama / Sagano / Takao Area

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Arashiyama / Sagano / Takao

Category

Travel / Tourism

Tenryu-ji Temple

4.5

17 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagatenryujisusukinobabachou 68

The head temple of Rinzai Tenryuji Buddhsim. The temple is one of the foremost sightseeing locations in the Saga Arashiyama area. The temple was founded in 1339 by Ashikaga Takauji to memorialize Emperor Go-Daigo. The temple was founded as the first of the five Kyoto Gozan premier temples and the spacious grounds encompassed over 150 sub-temples, but these were all lost in a series of later fires. The various temple buildings standing today were reconstructed in the Meiji period; the abbot’s chamber enshrines a seated figure of Gautama Buddha created in the Fujiwara period. The temple’s circular garden, built around a central pond, is a designated Historic Site and Special Place of Scenic Beauty and makes use of Mt. Arashiyama and Mt. Kameyama in the background. The garden looks the same as it did approximately 700 years ago when it was first created by Muso Kokushi.

Walking quietly through these gardens can lead you to a deep need for meditation! The gardens are incredibly intricate and I expect, offer something different in each season. This is the kind of...
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple

4.5

291 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagatorimotofukatanichou 2-5

A Tendai Buddhist temple located in Sagano in Kyoto Prefecture that has attracted many faithful since the Heian period (794–1185) for providing protection against misfortune. The temple gained its name, Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, from the priest Senkan, who was ordered to restore the temple after it was damaged by the flooding of the Kamo River and who constantly intoned the nenbutsu prayer. The temple’s principle object of worship is a thousand-armed figure of Kannon warding away evil. The grounds are filled with 1,200 arhat figures, each with a differing expression. Surrounded by Japanese irises in spring and autumn foliage in fall, the sight of these friendly statues brings comfort to visitors.

Located a bit away from the center of Arashiyama, maybe 15-20 minutes walk, but it is totally worth it. Such a calm place, without crowds of tourists.
Nonomiya-jinja Shrine

4.0

301 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Saganonomiyachou 1

A Shinto shrine located in the Sagano area of Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City. The shrine is dedicated to gods of scholarship, love, children, and easy childbirth, and is particularly renowned for aiding in finding marriage. The shrine was the setting of the Sakaki chapter of the famed Tale of Genji and is also the subject of the classic Noh song Nonomiya; the grounds contain numerous informational signs noting key points mentioned in these works. It is said that if one rubs the Kame-ishi (Tortoise Stone) next to the shrine dedicated to the marriage god Nonomiya Daikokuten, one’s wish will be granted within the year, and many visitors come to this popular Kyoto “power spot.”

nonomiya shrine is famous because of its associations with imperial princesses (who traveled here to purify themselves before proceeding to serve at the Ise shrine) and also the Tale of Genji. for...
Arashiyama

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto City Ukyo-ku Arashiyama

One of Kyoto’s leading tourist attractions, this 381.5-meter-high mountain and its environs have been designated as a National Historic Place of Beauty. On the mountain are the Iwatayama Monkey Park and Horinji Temple. Widely known as a spot for seeing cherry blossoms and changing autumn leaves, the scenery combining the Katsuragawa River to Togetsukyo Bridge is often used as a motif on picture postcards and pamphlets. Popular activities include walking the “bamboo forest road” from Tenryuji Temple or going around temples or shrines, a railcar ride to Kameoka, of the “Hozugawa-kudari” (Hozugawa river boat ride) pleasure cruise ride down the river to Arashiyama.
Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple

4.0

203 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagatorimotoadashinochou 17

This is a temple of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist sect in Sagano. Adashino has been an area of funerals from time immemorial, and people offer stone Buddhist images and regret being separated from the deceased. Inside, the grounds are lined with 8,000 stone Buddhist images and stone monuments, each in memory of the souls at Adashino. Each year on the 23rd and 24th of August, the stone Buddhist images and stone monuments are lit with lamps in a 1,000 lamp memorial service, bringing in a great many visitors.

If want to visit temples in Arashiyama, this is one of few recommended temples, especially during autumn season. Unlike other temple. it is also a cemetery. It have lots of stone statues to...
Jingo-ji Temple

4.5

195 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Umegahata Kaohsiung-cho 5

A Koyosan Shingon Buddhist temple located in Ukyo Ward in Kyoto City. The temple is also located in in the center of Mt. Takao in the Atago Mountain Range. Founded by the nobleman Wake no Kiyomaro, the famed priest Kukai served here for 14 years starting in 809. The Daishido Hall was a reconstruction of the residence where Kukai lived. Built in a residential style, it is a designated Important Cultural Property. The temple’s principle object of worship, a standing figure of the Healing Buddha, is a National Treasure and aside from the painted red lips and black eyebrows and eyes is bar wood. The temple houses numerous Buddhist artworks and cultural properties, such as the standing figures of the Five Major Kokuzo Bosatsu in the two-tier pagoda as well as a temple bell regarded as one of the three most famous in Japan. Visitors can also enjoy throwing an earthenware plate, a tradition to ward away evil, in front of the Jizoin hall.

If you are not capable of walking stairs, don’t go. The temple is located on the top of Takaosan hill and visitors need to walk down and up the valley and stairs. And the temple is very natural and...
Togetsukyo Bridge

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture Ukyo-ku Arashiyama

This bridge with a total length of 155 meters spanning the Katsuragawa River offers a vantage point to see the fall foliage of Arashiyama. The bridge is said to have been started by the Jowa-period (834–848) monk Dosho, and the bridge in the current location was built by Suminokura Ryoui in the early Edo period. Togetsukyo Bridge’s name (meaning “the bridge of the passing moon”) is said to have come about when Emperor Kameyama saw a moon move above the bridge and remarked that, “It looks as if the clear moon were walking over the bridge.” The bridge is full of elegance which blends into the landscape of Arashiyama.
Kurumazaki-jinja Shrine

4.0

118 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagasahichou 23

A Shinto shrine located in the Saga area of Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City dedicated to Kiyohara no Yorinari, a Confucian scholar who lived in the late Heian period. Kiyohara no Yorinari is seen as a god of luck with money, prosperous business, luck in finding marriage, and the warding away of evil. The shrine has a custom whereby visitors can purchase a stone from the shrine office and make a wish; the shrine piles the stones of successful wish-makers in front of the main shrine. The grounds also contain a shrine dedicated to Ame no Uzume, the goddess of performing arts, which is famous for the many performers and entertainers who come to visit it. On the third Sunday of May, the shrine holds the Three Boats Festival on the Oi River on Mt. Arashi, an event which recreates the boating the nobility would engage in during the Heian period.

I had chance to visit this shrine during Mantosai Festival (middle of Audust), and lanterns were really beautiful. You can also buy it for 500 yen and hang it by yourself.
Nison-in Temple

4.0

164 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Saganisoninmonzenchoujinchou 27

A Tendai Buddhist temple located in the Sagano area of Ukyo Ward in Kyoto City. The temple is called the Nison-in, meaning “Hall of Two Buddhas,” because its principle objects of worship are two standing figures of Gautama Buddha and Amitabha. The temple is said to have been founded by the priest Ennin at the behest of Emperor Saga during the early Heian period. In addition to the main temple nave, the grounds are dotted with the graves of court nobles and distinguished families. Famed for its autumn foliage, the temple is visited by numerous worshipers each year in fall. The temple path extending from the main gate, once the Yakuimon gate at Fushimi Castle that was moved here, is nicknamed the “Autumn Foliage Horse Riding Grounds” on account of the beauty of the scenery during the season.

Nison-in is known as the place where Fujiwarano Teika redacted “Hyakunin Isshu”, an anthology of traditional Japanese poem. In the premises of the temple, there are graves of some celebrities such as...
Hogon-in Temple

4.5

167 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Saga Tenryuji Susukino Baba-cho, 68

A sub temple of the Rinzai Tenryu-ji Buddhist Tenryu-ji Temple located in the Arashiyama area in Kyoto City. The temple’s spectacular garden incorporates the surrounding scenery of Arashiyama. A traditional circular strolling garden built around a central pond and arrayed with huge boulders such as “Shishi-iwa (Lion-Dog Rock),” the garden was even included in the Edo period Miyako rinsen meisho zue, a publication which noted various famous sights and locations of scenic beauty in Kyoto. The garden is only opened to the general public on special days in spring and autumn. At night, the garden is lit up in a manner befitting the wondrous scenery of this historical garden.

We have visited here twice before for autumn colors. Each time the temple does not disappoint. If you walk along the temple wall before entering you can see the tree tops and gauge if the colors...
Seiryo-ji Temple

4.0

138 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagashakadoufujinokichou 46

A Jyodo Buddhist temple located in the Saga area of Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City. Given the honorific mountain name Mt. Godai, the temple’s principle object of worship is a figure of Gautama Buddha. Known as the Saga Shaka-do, it has also been known as the Yuzu Nenbutsu no Dojo since the Middle Ages. The temple was founded when Minamoto no Toru, said to be the model for the heroic character of Hikaru Genji in The Tale of Genji, erected the Amitabha hall. The temple’s Gautama statue was brought by a priest called Chonen (934–1016) from Sung China who made a pilgrimage to Mt. Godai. Called the “Living Gautama,” it is a designated National Treasure. The figure is specially unveiled in April, May, October, and November, giving the general public a chance to see its unusual, non-Japanese styling.

There are so many temples along this street near the Bamboo Forest that it is impossible to pick and choose. The Seiryoji Temple stood out because it had an extraordinary gate that is very...
Mikami-jinja Shrine

3.5

82 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagaogurayamatabuchiyamachou 10-2

This is Japan’s only shrine for hair. Inside the grounds there is a mound for the hair that has been offered, and in each year’s grand festivals people give thanks to the blessing they receive from hair through the thanksgiving service and the memorial service for hair.

A small temple in the woods next to a lake, not really worth seeing unless if you are near it. It isn’t as crowded as the other temples, however.
Sagano Romantic Train

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto City Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto prefecture Kameoka city

This tourist railway uses the old JR Sanin Line which was left unused after a new line was built for the JR trains. It travels at an average speed of around 25km per hour. The 7.3 km trip passes through the picturesque Hozugawa River valley and takes approximately 25 minutes. The train slows for the especially beautiful spots allowing the passengers to take their time enjoying the view. The train interior is decorated in a colorful art deco style with wood seats and uncovered lightbulbs, giving it a retro feel. If you board the windowless open carriage The Rich you can feel the wind, light, and sounds dance across your skin. During the cold seasons a coal burning stove is installed allowing you to enjoy your trip in comfort.
Rokuo-in Temple

4.0

51 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoto-shi Ukyo-ku Sagakitaboricho 24

This temple was founded as a sub-temple of Hodoji Temple by monk Fumyo Kokushi in 1379 under orders from Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The temple is home to many Important Cultural Properties of Japan and is famous for the expansive Japanese rock garden that stretches between the pathways tying the temple halls together. The straight road approaching the temple is known for its beautiful autumn colors and is relatively quiet in comparison to the rest of Arashiyama.

The temple is called the Golden Pavilion as it has two floors covered with gold foil on lacquer. Theres a tea house, the temple and some other buildings among the wooded, manicured area. An...
Kyoto Arashiyama Orgel Museum

4.0

43 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagatenryujitateishichou 1-38

The Kyoto Arashiyama Orgel Museum is about five minutes' walk from JR Saga-Arashiyama Station in Kyoto's Ukyo Ward. It houses a collection of more than 150 valuable music boxes, including the oldest music box in the world. Visitors can see demonstrations of Western-made automata and buy music boxes of their own in the museum shop.

The Kyoto Arashiyama Orgel Museum was another tourist spot particularly for music lovers. You could see many music boxes inside and to relax with a cup of coffee at the lounge there.
Okochi Sanso Gardens

4.0

17 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Sagaogurayama Tabuchi Yamachi 8

This is a garden made by early Showa period film actor Okochi Denjiro, which took 30 years to finish. It is at the foot of Mt. Ogura facing the Katsuragawa River, showing the beauty of the passing seasons from spring’s cherry blossoms to autumn’s maple leaves. Here one can enjoy views of Mt. Arashiyama, Mt. Hiei and Mt. Daimonji.

広大な庭園をゆっくり見て回ることができます。立派な山荘ですが、建物は外から見るだけです。抹茶とお菓子をいただくことができます。
Saimyōji Temple

4.0

63 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Umegahata Makio Town 1

A Buddhist temple famed for its autumn foliage. The temple was built by the priest Chisen, a disciple of the great Kukai, in the Tencho period (824–834). It is believed that the current temple nave was rebuilt with a donation from Keishoin, the mother of the fifth shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. The temple’s principal object of worship, a standing wooden figure of Gautama Buddha (a registered Important Cultural Property) housed in the temple nave, is just 51 centimeters high and is believed to have been modeled after the great priest Myoe of the Kosanji Temple. The standing figure of the thousand armed Kannon (another Important Cultural Property) standing at his side was carved in the Heian period is notable for its delicate facial features.

高尾三山の一つ。世間的な知名度は、高山寺や神護寺に及びませんが、紅葉の美しさには目を見張るものがあります。広すぎない境内に色とりどりの紅葉がギュッと詰まっています。朱色の橋とも調和し、心が洗われました。京都の中では、早めに色付くこちらの紅葉は、タイミングが合えば、絶対におすすめです。 Must see Momoji red leaves! Most beautiful yet least...
Arashiyama-Takao Parkway

4.0

23 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Umegahata Hinoki-cho 11

"A scenic drive toll road connecting Arashiyama and Takao in Kyoto. In addition to offering spectacular views of Rakusei (western part of Kyoto), various leisure spots are scattered along the route. The observatories set up in the mountains offer a panoramic view of Kyoto urban district and the Hozu River, etc. and there are many facilities such as a flower park, a grass dog run, a waterside zip line up to 10 meters high and 150 meters long, and a spot for barbecuing in nature, where couples and families can enjoy. ""Arashiyama Fishing Area"" is also popular among fishing enthusiasts."

桜や紅葉の時期ではない閑散期は車もガラガラでとても走りやすくて、適度なワインディングなので楽しいです。ドライブにはちょうどいい場所だと思います。
Fukuda Art Museum

4.5

15 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kyoto Kyoto-shi Ukyo-ku Sagatenryujisusukinobabacho 3-16

嵐山という見所がたくさんあるエリアの中、限られた時間で鑑賞できるちょうどいい規模の美術館です。展示内容も京都ゆかりの画家さん達の作品が取り上げられており、展示数は多くはありませんがその分作品ひとつひとつに解説がついています。文字も大きめで読みやすく、一部を除いて写真が撮れました。今後の展示が楽しみです。
Jikisian Temple

4.5

35 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kyoto Kyoutoshi Ukyou-ku Kitasagakitanodanchou 3

"This temple is located in Kitasaga Kitanodan-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City. It started as a thatched hut built in 1646 by the Rinzai monk Dokusho Shoen. The main hall surrounded by a bamboo grove has a notebook called ""Omoidekusa"" where worshipers write out their thoughts, and over 5,000 books have been filled over 50 years."

毎年の紅葉の時期、一年の無事を感謝しに訪れていました。まさかの拝観中止になっていました。詳しい事情は分かりませんが、コロナの影響と記されてました。来年の10月迄は目処が立たないとのこと、思い出草と言う、拝観者が色んな思いを記すノートがあります。辛い想いや願いを記している方が多く、私と同じ様に毎年の訪れている方も多い様です。今回も同じ様に拝観中止を知らずに訪れた方々が、名残惜しそうに佇んでいま...

Kyoto Arashiyama / Sagano / Takao

Travel / Tourism

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Kyoto Areas

Its wooden tea houses, shuffling geisha, and spiritual sights have seen Kyoto hailed as the heart of traditional Japan, a world apart from ultramodern Tokyo. Despite being the Japanese capital for over a century, Kyoto escaped destruction during World War II, leaving behind a fascinating history which can be felt at every turn, from the fully gold-plated Kinkakuji Temple down to traditional customs such as geisha performances and tea ceremonies, which are still practiced to this day.