ITINERARIES
Kyoto at Night: What Is Open After Dark & Where to Walk
Kyoto’s temples close around sunset, and many visitors go back to the hotel when they do. The old streets are better after dark: the tour groups have left and the lanterns are on.
The Short Version
- Temples close between about 4:30pm and 6pm. After that, Kyoto is streets, shrines and viewpoints.
- Free and never closed: Yasaka Shrine, Fushimi Inari, the Gion lanes, Pontocho and the Kamo River.
- The best walk: Pontocho, across the river to Gion, then up to the Yasaka Pagoda. About an hour and a half.
- In spring and autumn, a handful of temples reopen at night with illuminated gardens. Dates are below.
- Check your last train. Through trains to Osaka on the Keihan and Hankyu lines end at 23:15.
Free, and Open All Night
- Gion: Hanamikoji and the Shirakawa canal under lantern light. The teahouses start their evening around 6pm.
- Pontocho: a narrow alley of restaurants and bars beside the Kamo River. Walk it once even if you eat elsewhere.
- Yasaka Shrine: open 24 hours, at the east end of Shijo Street. The rows of lanterns on the dance stage are the picture to take.
- Yasaka Pagoda, Ninenzaka and Nene-no-michi: the Higashiyama lanes are packed by day and nearly empty by night. Shops are shut, and that is the point.
- Fushimi Inari: open 24 hours and five minutes from Kyoto Station by JR. Stay on the lower, lit part of the gates.
- The Kamo River: on warm evenings people sit along the bank between Sanjo and Shijo.
Tour groups fill the main lanes
Quiet and lit by lanterns
Night Illuminations
A few temples reopen after dark in spring and autumn. These are the autumn 2026 dates. Spring 2027 dates were not yet published when this was written.
| Where | Autumn 2026 dates | Evening hours | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiyomizu-dera | 21–30 Nov | 17:30, last entry 21:00 | ¥500 |
| Kodai-ji | 23 Oct–13 Dec | 17:00, last entry 21:30 | ¥800 |
| Chion-in | 17 Nov–6 Dec | 17:30, last entry 21:00 | ¥800 |
| Shoren-in | 6 Nov–6 Dec | 18:00, last entry 21:30 | ¥1,500 |
| Toji | 31 Oct–13 Dec | 18:00, last entry 21:00 | ¥1,000 |
| Nijo Castle (NAKED meets Nijo-jo) | 23 Oct–5 Dec | 18:00, last entry 21:00 | ¥2,000–¥2,400 |
- Kiyomizu-dera opens at night for only ten days, so it is the busiest. Go on a weekday.
- Kodai-ji runs the longest and is a short walk from Yasaka Shrine, so it fits into a Gion evening.
- From mid-December to mid-March there are few night openings. See Kyoto in Winter for what runs instead.
City Views
- Kyoto Tower: ¥1,000 for adults since October 2026. Open 10:00–21:00, last entry 20:30.
- Kyoto Station, free: the Skyway on the 10th floor looks north over the city (10:00–22:00), and the Grand Staircase is lit with moving images until 22:00. The rooftop garden is closed for construction from 27 November 2026 until about 2031. More in the Kyoto Station guide.
What Closes Early
| Place | Closes around |
|---|---|
| Most temples | 16:30–17:00 |
| Kiyomizu-dera | 18:00 |
| Nishiki Market | Most stalls by 17:30–18:00 |
| Most museums | 17:00 |
Plan temples for the morning and keep the evening for walking and eating.
One Evening, Hour by Hour
| Time | What |
|---|---|
| 17:00 | Yasaka Pagoda and Ninenzaka as the light goes and the shops shut |
| 18:00 | Walk down through Gion to the river. Dinner in Pontocho or an izakaya in Kiyamachi |
| 19:30 | Back across the river: the Shirakawa canal, then Hanamikoji |
| 20:30 | Yasaka Shrine and its lanterns |
| 21:00 | A last drink near Gion-Shijo, or the train home |
Do not photograph, follow or stop maiko and geisha. They are on their way to work.
Stay out of the private side alleys off Hanamikoji. Residents’ signs ban entry and photography there and warn of a ¥10,000 fine. Hanamikoji itself is a public street and stays open.
Getting Home
| Line | Last train on a weekday |
|---|---|
| Subway Karasuma Line, Shijo to Kyoto Station | 23:57 |
| JR, Kyoto to Osaka | 23:58 (last Special Rapid 23:29) |
| Keihan, Gion-Shijo to Osaka (Yodoyabashi) | 23:15 |
| Keihan, Gion-Shijo to Demachiyanagi | 0:07 |
| Hankyu, Kyoto-Kawaramachi to Osaka-Umeda | 23:15 |
| City bus 206, Gion to Kyoto Station | 23:33 |
- Taxis cost about 20% more between 10pm and 5am. The GO and DiDi apps work in English. See How to Get Around Kyoto.
- Staying in Osaka? After 23:15, JR from Kyoto Station is the only through train left.
Our Gion Night Walk follows this route with a guide who lives in Kyoto: Pontocho, Hanamikoji, the Yasaka Pagoda and Ninenzaka, ending at Yasaka Shrine. It takes 90 minutes, costs ¥6,000 and has up to 10 guests, with evening starts as late as 21:30 on some days.
Read next: Gion Guide · How Izakayas Work · Kyoto in Winter
// Gion After Dark
The best night walk
already has a guide
Gion is at its best after dark and almost nothing in it is explained on a sign. Our Gion Night Walk covers Pontocho, Hanamikoji and the Yasaka Pagoda in 90 minutes with a guide who lives in Kyoto.
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