Rurikoin Temple Autumn Leaves 2026 Confirmed

瑠璃光院の紅葉 — Kyoto (Kansai)

🎟️ Peak weeks: lottery only (closed) ↓

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Rurikoin is the temple behind the reflection photo all over social media: upstairs in the study hall, maples outside the window mirror across black lacquered writing desks, doubling the foliage into a floor-to-ceiling wall of red. The moss garden below is nearly as good. It opens to visitors only in spring and autumn — the 2026 autumn season is planned for October 1 to December 13 — with color peaking from mid-November to early December. There is no night illumination, but the nearby Eizan Railway "maple tunnel" is lit after dark in season.

Background

The building began as a Meiji- and Taisho-era villa in Yase, a valley long favored as a noble retreat, with a strolling garden attributed to the celebrated gardener Ogawa Jihei. It later became a temple of the Komyo-ji Pure Land lineage, and its name refers to lapis lazuli, the jewel of the Buddha's paradise.

Getting there

Take the Keihan Line or City Bus 17 to Demachiyanagi, then the Eizan Railway to Yase-Hieizanguchi, about 15 minutes; the temple is a 5-minute walk along the river. From Kyoto Station allow about an hour total. The lit-up maple tunnel is further up the Eizan line toward Kurama.

Tips

• Admission is ¥2,000 — Kyoto's most expensive temple ticket — but it includes the run of a small, carefully managed building, and entry numbers are capped, so it never feels like Tofuku-ji.
• The peak weeks — Nov 13 to Dec 6 — are open only to people who won a lottery. Applications were by return postcard (one date per postcard, up to four people) and closed on Aug 20, with results mailed around Sept 25. Unless you already hold a winning reply postcard you cannot enter in those weeks: the official notice says there are no same-day reservations.
• On the open-entry dates — Oct 1 to Nov 12 and Dec 7 to 13 — no reservation is needed and the temple is open 10:00am–5:00pm (last entry 4:30pm). Those dates fall just before and just after the usual mid-November to early-December colour peak, so check recent foliage reports before choosing a day.
• If you do hold a reservation, bring the reply postcard and photo ID for every person (driver's licence, student ID, health insurance card or passport): entry is refused if the names do not match. The date and party size cannot be changed, and a no-show is charged the admission fee. Reservation days run 9:00am–6:00pm (last entry 5:30pm), and children up to elementary-school age need no reservation (one child per adult).
• The famous desk-reflection room is small and shooting is from behind the desks only; visit on a bright morning for the strongest reflection and be ready to wait your turn for the front row.
• Make a half day of the Yase-Kurama corridor: Rurikoin in the morning, then the Eizan train onward to Kifune Shrine, whose lantern-lit maples peak on the same schedule.

Maintained by Tetsu Yamamoto · Last verified against the official source: Wed, October 7, 2026