To know more the gardens of Kyoto, we must know Ogawa Jihei VII, who is the seventh Ueji. He is a passionate Japanese garden architect. It is interesting to enjoy the natural red leaves view in the artificial garden. This time we are going to introduce these gardens set up by him.
Heian Jingu Shrine
To commemorate its capital relocation for 1100 years, there is the 4th Domestic industrial exhibition in Kyoto to build the Heian Jingu in 1881. Since they didn't have enough budget, they can only use a part of “Gojo Great Bridge” to make the” Bridge in Sakyo”. The most characteristic bridge Taihei-kaku (Hashi-dono) is located near the Shrine Garden East. It's about 30,000 square meters which needs 20 years to finish construction.
Although there are not many red leaves, we can still discover some of them near the Seiho-ike Pond of the shrine.
Opening hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm (Close at 5:00pm), from 1st November to last day of February
Fee: 600 Yen for adults, 300 Yen for children
Address:
97 Okazaki Nishitennocho, Sakyo Ward
- Get off at Higashiyama station by Subway Tozai line, walk for 10mins
- Get off at Jingu Marutamachi Station or Sanjo Station by Keihan Railway, walk for 15mins
- Get off at Heian Jingu Shrine bus stop by City bus, walk for 5 mins
- Get off at Miyakomesse bus stop by City bus, walk for 5 mins
- Get off at Okazaki Koen-guchi bus stop by City bus , walk for 5 mins
Red leaves period: Mid November
Namikawa Cloisonné Museum
It is built from the house and workshop from Namikawa Yasuyuki (Japanese cloisonne artist), next to the Ogawa Jihei VII’s house. Since he was awarded the gold prize in Paris Universal Exposition in 1867, this museum is so well-known for the foreigners. The use of many glass doors inside the museum is one of the characteristics. The water of this garden is navigated from the water tunnel of Lake Biwa built by Ogawa Jihei VII. We can also enjoy the red maple leaves here.Opening hours: 10:00am to 4:30pm (Last Entrance at 4:00pm)
Close on Monday and Thursday (shift to the following day if holiday), Summer and Winter exhibit renewal.
Fee: 800 Yen for adults, 600 Yen for university or older than 70 years old , 400 Yen for secondary school , free for primary school
Address:
388 Horiike-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0038
- Get off at Higashiyama Station by Tozai Line, exit#1, walk for 3 mins
- Get off at Higashiyama Sanjo bus stop or Jingu-Michi bus stop by City bus, walk for 5mins
- No Car park
Red maple leaves period: Late November
Kyoto Prefectural Government Old Main Building
This front court with red leaves is built from Ueji. The inner part of this Renaissance style building is open to public. Since it is near to Kyoto Gyoen Garden, make a visit when you have free time!
Opening hours: 10:00am to 5:00pm (Tuesday to Friday, the 1st/3rd /5th Saturday of every month, close at Sunday and Holiday)
Fee: Free
Address:
Kyoto-shi, Kamigyo-ku, Yabunouchicho
- Get off at Marutamachi Station by Subway Karasuma line, walk for 10 mins
- Get off at Government Main Building bus stop by City bus, walk for 5 mins
Red maple leaves period: Mid November to Early December
Kounji Temple
It is the Tatchu sub-temple of Nanzen-ji Temple. It has another name “the Centre of Zen”. People can reserve by fax to join the “Zen studying seminar (Japanese only)”.Visitors can also experience the traditional Matcha and Scripture. Although it is not open to public in the most time, it will be open during the red maple leaves period.Opening hour: Zen studying seminar (Japanese only) : 9:00am to 4:00pm (exp the 2nd and 4th Sunday)
Special opening hours: 20th November to 5th December
Zen studying seminar (Japanese only) : 1000 Yen for adults, 500 Yen for secondary or lower.
Special opening hours: 600 Yen for adults, 300 Yen for primary school
Address:
59 Nanzenji Kitanobocho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi
- Get off at Okazaki Higashitennocho bus stop by City bus
Red maple leaves period: Late November to Early December
Kodaiji Jugyuan
The garden of Kodaiji Jugyuan belongs to family Kiyomizu. It was the villa of Kiyomizu Kichijiro. It was reconstructed as high class Japanese restaurant in September 2017. In the traditional internal building, we can enjoy the creations of Ueji (Ogawa Jihei VII), plus the red maple leaves and food.Opening hours: 11:30am to 12:30pm (stop ordering), 5:30pm to 7:30pm (stop ordering)
Close on Wednesday
Fee: 20,000 Yen to 30,000 Yen (Seasonal menu, with 15% tax and service charge)
Address:
Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Higashiyama-ku Kodaiji Masuya-cho 353
- Get off at Kawaramachi Station by Hankyu Railway, exit 2, walk for 25 mins
- Get off at Gion Shijo Station by Keihan Railway, exit 6, walk for 20mins
- Get off at Higashiyama Yasui bus stop at City bus, walk for 6 mins
- With Car park (Pre-advice needed)
Red maple leaves period: Mid to Late November
Koetsu-Ji Temple
Since there are some famous painter Honami Koetsu and other artists in Edo period, this village located at
Takagamine is prosperous. The Koetsu wall (an unique wooden fence), stone path and red maple leaves contrast as a colorful tunnel for visitors.
In the Koetsu-Ji Temple, there are 7 tea shops. Some of them set up by Ueji (Ogawa Jihei VII) were finished in 5th year of Taisho period ( 1916).
Opening hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm
Closed from 10th to 13th November
Fee: 300 Yen for secondary school , 400 Yen in red maple leaves period
Address:
29 Takagamine Koetsucho, Kita
- Get off at Genko-an Temple bus stop by City bus, walk for 3mins
- Car park for 12 cars, maybe not available during red leaves period
Red maple leaves period: Mid to Late November
Murin-an temple
It is the villa of Yamagata Aritomo. It use Higashiyama as the borrowed background and use the water of Biwako Lake to feed the garden. People can see Red maple leaves at everywhere in the garden. In 2017 red maple leaves festival, the gardeners held 3 times a day for the sharing of garden care experiences. And night lighten-up event was also held.
Opening hours: 7:30 to 5:00pm in November
8:30 to 5:00pm from December to March (Last Entrance 4:30pm)
Gardeners sharing and Night lighten-up event: 5:30pm to 9:00pm (Last Entrance 8:30pm, 18th to 23th November 2017)
Fee (Entrance): 410 Yen, free for primary school
(Gardeners sharing and Night event):600 Yen (extra 400 Yen for VIP seats)
Address:
31 Nanzenji KusagawachōSakyō-ku, Kyōto-shi
- Get off at Higashiyama Ward station by Subway Tozai Line, walk for 7 mins
- Get off at Nanzenji / Canal Memorial Hall · Zoo east gate front, walk for 4 mins
- Get off at Jingu-Michi bus stop by City bus, walk for 10mins
- Get off at Okazaki Park/ Museum · Heian Jingu Shrine bus stop, walk for 10mins
Red maple leaves period Mid to Late November
The Westin Miyako Kyoto
Click here for more informationYachiyo
Opening hours: 11時～16時(L.O.15時） 17時～21時(L.O.19時）
Address:
京都府京都市左京区南禅寺福地町34
- 京都市営地下鉄東西線蹴上駅より徒歩5分
- 京都市営バス5番系統 法勝寺町下車 徒歩5分
- 駐車場 無料
Kikusui
Opening hours:【お食事】午前11時～午後22時（ランチタイム 午前11時～午後15時）
定休日：年中無休
お食事：【会席料理】14,490円～24,150円
【お昼の料理】6,037円～
ご宿泊：1泊2食付 30,187円～
Address:
京都市左京区南禅寺福地町31
- 京都市営地下鉄東西線「蹴上駅」１番口より徒歩7分
- 京都市営バス５番系統「法勝寺バス停」下車徒歩9分
- 駐車場 無料
Shirakawa-in Garden
ご宿泊：1泊2食付き 14,500円から（税込）
Address:
京都市左京区岡崎法勝寺町16
- JR京都駅・阪急河原町駅・京阪三条駅から市バスで『法勝寺町』で下車すぐ
- 駐車場：10台
Epilogue There are a lot Ueji set up gardens in Kyoto. Many of them are not opened for public. Some of them may be open for public during the red maple leaves period. Suggest visiting the web site of ”Kyoto Navi” to have a update information.
