Hi!! I hope you have a great day whenever you are. In Japan, we still experience the high-and-low temperature, some day can be hot and the next day it could be cold. The red leaves season is coming soon and I’m going to introduce the beautiful Shinnyodo temple in Kyoto. This temple is very famous for its red leaves. If you have been following my previous blog posts here and here, then this post is the last series of my travel in Kyoto last year
Shinnyodo 真如堂
Shinnyodo established in 984 by a priest from Enryakuji Temple. The original temple was destroyed during the Orin war and the temple you see now is the rebuilt version of the old temple. The temple consist of several buildings and a 3-story pagoda. The temple also has a wide, spacious area. This temple is very famous for its red leaves, however, it’s not as crowded as another places in Kyoto, so you still can take a beautiful photo.
(The main building and the pagoda)
Most of the temple ground is free of admission fee. You need to pay if you want to see the main hall and the temple garden. Entrance fee is 500¥ and it opens from 9:00 to 16:00 everyday.
For me, I did not pay to enter the main hall and garden. From the information I got, the garden is a Japanese dry garden which normally consist of geometrically-arranged stone and sand pattern like the one you see in Ginkakuji.
To reach the temple, I use the Kyoto city bus and stops at Shinnyodo-mae bus stop. The bus cost 230¥ per trip, so I recommend you to get the daily pass for 500 (or 600¥) and you can ride the bus as many times as you want.
In case you drive there, here’s the address of Shinnyodo
〒606-8414 京都府京都市左京区浄土寺真如町８２
The temple is 20-minutes walk to Ginkakuji and you will need to pass the Philosopher’s path, therefore, I recommend you to add these places to your itinerary because it’s really convenient. Kyoto is really big, so make sure you plan your trip well and you don’t waste your time moving from a place to another place.
Philosopher’s path （哲学の道）
Philosopher’s path is a pleasant stone-path walk in Higashiyama area. The path follows a canal which starts at Ginkakuji and ends at Nanzenji. This cannal is actually part of Biwa Lake canal (the biggest lake in Japan). Alongside the canal, thousands of cherry blossom tree are lining, making this place full of cherry-blossom and pinkish color in spring.
The name comes from Nishida Kentaro -one of Japanese famous philosopher-. It is said that he often went to this path to meditate.
The path itself is around 2-km long. If you walk along the path, you will find some cafe and restaurants there. Sometimes you might also find a smaller temple. This path is really close to Shinnyodo, you can also find the path on Google Maps 😉
tl:dr
Shinnyodo is by-far the most “red” temple I visited in Kyoto with less people. The temple is not super big, but it’s not small either, it’s just a perfect size for an afternoon walk. Also, the weather is not so hot, so I really recommend you to continue your walk to Philosopher’s path and also Ginkakuji.
The walk might be a bit tough with some uphill path, but I guarantee the view is worth the walk. However, it might be hard to find some public facility (toilet, parking spot) close to Shinnyodo..
And that’s all for the post this time, see you on the next post. Your comments are always <3