Kodai-ji Temple Autumn Leaves 2026 Confirmed

高台寺の紅葉 — Kyoto (Kansai)

Kodai-ji pioneered the Kyoto temple illumination, and it still runs one of the best: maples around the Garyo-ike pond are lit so their reflection forms a perfect mirror image on windless nights, and a projection-mapping show plays across the raked sand of the Hojo garden. Leaves peak from mid-November to early December, but the night viewing runs far longer — typically late October to mid-December, from dusk until 10:00pm (entry until 9:30pm), the latest closing of any major Kyoto temple.

Background

Kodai-ji was founded in 1606 by Nene (Kita-no-Mandokoro), widow of the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, to pray for his soul; Tokugawa Ieyasu financed its construction. A Rinzai Zen temple of the Kennin-ji school, it preserves lavish maki-e lacquer work and teahouses attributed to tea master Sen no Rikyu.

Getting there

From Kyoto Station, City Bus 206 to the Higashiyama-Yasui stop takes about 20 minutes; the temple is a 7-minute walk east up the slope. From Keihan Gion-Shijo Station it's a 15-minute walk through the Gion district. The stone-paved Nene-no-Michi lane runs along the temple's base.

Tips

• Admission is ¥600 — one of the cheapest tickets among Kyoto's illuminated temples — and includes the Sho-Museum; a combination ticket adds the affiliated Entoku-in across the lane, which has its own lit garden.
• The 10:00pm closing is your crowd-avoidance tool: arrive after 8:30pm when tour groups have left and the pond reflection is at its calmest.
• The mirror shot of Garyo-ike pond is taken from the path on its west side; hold your camera at the railing, as tripods are not permitted.
• Kodai-ji sits between Kiyomizu-dera and Gion, so the classic evening route is Kiyomizu at dusk, the Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka lanes after dark, then Kodai-ji's illumination last.