Kyoto · Higashiyama and Gion
Kodaiji Temple
Kodai-ji was founded in 1606 by Kita-no-Mandokoro, known as Nene, in memory of her husband Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu funded the construction, and the temple took its name from the name Nene adopted when she became a nun.
The dais and the shrine cabinet in the Otama-ya hall are decorated with lacquer and gold powder, in a style named after the temple. The garden is attributed to the gardener Kobori Enshu and is designated a Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. Two teahouses stand in the garden: Kasa-tei, whose bamboo ceiling beams meet like an open umbrella, and the two-story Shigure-tei. According to tradition they were moved from Fushimi Castle and designed by Sen no Rikyu, but there is no proof of this.
And next to the old, something very new: in the temple's teaching hall stands Mindar, an android robot in the form of the bodhisattva Kannon, which recites the Heart Sutra.
Good to know
- The bamboo grove is inside the garden, which means only with a ticket.
- For the night illumination, daytime visitors are not asked to leave. If you enter in the afternoon you can stay until the lights come on at 17:00.
- The combined ticket includes Entoku-in, a small sub-temple across Nene-no-michi.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Kodaiji Temple.
- HereKodaiji Temple
- 1 min
Nene-no-michi Street
A stone-paved lane, about 460 meters, south of Maruyama Park and along the gate of Kodai-ji. It is named after Nene, Hideyoshi's wife, and when it was laid out in 1998 its power lines were buried underground.
- ~3 min
Starbucks Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya Cafe
A branch in a Japanese wooden house more than a hundred years old, with seating areas on tatami. It opens at 08:00, before most of the shops in the lanes.
- ~4 min
Kikunoi Honten Food
Traditional kaiseki near Maruyama in Kyoto.
- ~4 min
Kasagiya Cafe
A sweets house on the Ninenzaka steps, open since 1914, with paintings by the artist Takehisa Yumeji on the walls. Ohagi in three colors or zenzai, a sweet red bean soup with grilled mochi, ¥900. Cash only and no reservations.
- ~5 min
Camellia Flower Teahouse More to see
In a tea room near Kiyomizu-dera you watch the ceremony, eat a seasonal sweet and learn to whisk matcha yourself.
More in Higashiyama and Gion
Appears in: Higashiyama: Kiyomizu-dera in the morning, the Sannenzaka lanes, and Gion in the evening