Kyoto · Kurama and Kibune
Kifune-jinja Shrine
Kifune Shrine is dedicated to the god of water, and according to the shrine it is the head of about 2,000 water shrines in Japan. The visit is called 'sansha-mode', three shrines: the main shrine at the foot of Mount Kibune, Yui-no-yashiro in the middle, and Okumiya, the inner shrine, farther up the valley.
Okumiya is where the shrine was founded. After the building there was washed away in a flood, the main shrine was moved in 1055 to its current site, and it was rebuilt from the ground up in the Heisei era. Beneath the hall at Okumiya there is, according to tradition, a 'dragon hole' that no one may see. At Yui-no-yashiro people pray for relationships: according to tradition, the poet Izumi Shikibu prayed here when her husband grew distant from her, and her prayer was answered.
In front of the main shrine, water from the mountain spring flows out of the stone wall. You buy a mizu-ura mikuji there, a blank fortune slip, lay it on the water, and the writing appears.
Good to know
- The kawadoko season, meals on platforms over the stream, ended in 2026 between mid and late September. From October you eat inside the restaurants.
- The hours 06:00-20:00 are published only for May to November. In winter, check before you come toward evening.
- In summer the shrine is lit in the evening with Tanabata decorations. In 2026 this was from 1 July to 15 August, from sunset until 20:00.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Kifune-jinja Shrine.
- HereKifune-jinja Shrine
- 1 min
Torii-jaya Food
A tea house near the approach to the shrine. The known dish is ayu-chazuke: ayu fish grilled and simmered for a whole day with sansho pepper, on rice with tea, from ¥1,900. In winter also yudofu and botan-nabe.
- ~2 min
Hyoue Cafe Cafe
The cafe of the Hyoue ryokan: espresso from an Italian machine and homemade sweets. From May to September it moves to a platform over the stream. Coffee or matcha from ¥770.
- ~3 min
Denbe Food
Homemade soba, no reservations, and it closes when the noodles run out. A dish costs about ¥1,000 to ¥2,000. Cash only.
- ~4 min
Kifune Club Cafe
A spacious cafe, 40 seats and a small tatami room. Cakes and also kamameshi, rice in a small pot. No credit cards.
- ~5 min
Hirobun Food
A ryokan and restaurant near Yui-no-yashiro. From May to the end of September it serves nagashi-somen, noodles floated down a bamboo pipe that you catch with chopsticks, ¥2,000 in cash, canceled in rain. From mid-October to April, meals around an open hearth.
More in Kurama and Kibune
Appears in: Kurama and Kibune: a walk on the tengu's mountain, the water shrine, and a meal above the stream