Northwest Kyoto · TakaoNo.1215★★Open in map →
Takao Sanbi Temples
— Three temple valleys northwest of Kyoto
Three wooded valleys on the road northwest out of Kyoto, each with a single old temple in it: Jingo-ji up a long stone stair, Saimyo-ji beside the river, and Kozan-ji, a World Heritage site with what is called Japan's oldest tea garden.
- FromKyoto Station
- ~50 minJR bus, ~50 min
- Get off atTakao (JR Bus Takao-Keihoku Line)
- On foot
- Takao Sanbi Temples
The sweet spot
Takao is not a secret. It is one of Kyoto's best-known places to see autumn colour, and the buses show it. What separates it from the temples in the city is the shape of the visit: one road, three valleys, and a climb rather than a stroll from gate to gate.
Where it is
90 more notes in Kyoto · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Takaobashi bridgethe crossing of the river where the approach to Jingo-ji begins
- The stone stairwayroughly 400 steps under maples, from the bridge up to the two-storey gate
- Jingo-ji Kondothe hall at the top of the climb, with the clay-disc throwing ground on the ridge beyond it
- Saimyo-jia small temple across the river from the road, its main hall rebuilt under the patronage of Keishoin
- Kozan-ji's Sekisuiina National Treasure hall at the head of the valley, in the temple of the animal caricature scrolls
How to actually get there
- Kyoto Station → Takao (JR Bus, Takao-Keihoku Line, about 50 minutes).
- Takao stop → the bridge → the stone stairway → Jingo-ji (about 20 minutes on foot, almost all steps).
- Back down to the road, then walk up the valley to Makinoo for Saimyo-ji.
- Continue to Togano-o for Kozan-ji and the Sekisuiin, and catch the bus back from there.
- JR bus from Kyoto Station to Takao
- Kyoto Station →(JR Bus, Takao-Keihoku Line, about 50 minutes)→ Takao stop. From the stop the path leaves the road, drops to the bridge over the river and climbs the stairway to the temple gate. The same line continues to Makinoo and Togano-o for the other two temples.
- Back down the valley
- The return is the same road, from whichever of the three stops you finish at. Buses here run nothing like a city service, so photograph the timetable at the stop when you arrive rather than working it out at dusk. Check the posted last departure before you settle in at the far end of the valley.
About the place
Three valleys sit in a row along the Shuzan Kaido, National Route 162, the road that leaves Kyoto to the northwest. They are called Takao, Makinoo and Toganoo, and together they are known as the Sanbi. Each valley has one temple in it — Jingo-ji, Saimyo-ji and Kozan-ji — and the bus stops for them are minutes apart on the same road, close enough to walk between. Jingo-ji asks the most: from the road the path drops to a bridge over the river, then climbs a long stone stairway to the gate. Kozan-ji, at the far end, is a World Heritage site and keeps what is called the oldest tea garden in Japan.
How to enjoy it
One bus line serves all three stops, so the usual order is to get off at Takao, climb to Jingo-ji while your legs are fresh, then walk down the valley road to Makinoo and on to Toganoo. Autumn is the busiest season here by a wide margin; the same walk in early summer is all green maple, and the river under the bridge is part of the point in either season.
Background & history
Wake no Kiyomaro founded a private mountain temple here, Takaosan-ji, in 781. Saicho lectured on the Lotus Sutra at it, and Kukai was invited to it after his return from China. In 824 Takaosan-ji was merged with another temple, renamed Jingo-ji, and entrusted to Kukai. Further up the valley, Kozan-ji was revived in 1206 by the monk Myoe, who had been granted the site by a retired emperor.
Before you go
- Cash
- Each of the three temples charges its own admission, and Kozan-ji adds a separate entry charge in the autumn season. The stretch from Kyoto Station out to Togano-o falls inside the flat-fare city zone, so the Kyoto city day passes are valid on it.
- Before you go
- This is an outdoor half-day on uneven ground. The stairway to Jingo-ji is long, irregular stone and slippery in rain, and nothing in the valley is lit after dark. The road is a mountain road, so check the forecast before you commit to it.
- Another way
- City bus 8 also runs to the same Takao stop, from the Shijo-Karasuma area. By car, the route is National Route 162, the Shuzan Kaido, heading northwest from the Fukuoji junction.
- After you get off
- From the Takao stop the path leaves the main road and descends through trees to the bridge over the river. Everything after that is stone steps up to the gate, which is why so short a distance takes as long as it does.