Ryoan-ji Temple is a temple of the Myoshin-ji sect of the Rinzai Sect of Zen Buddhism, and is registered as a World Heritage Site as one of the “Cultural Properties of Ancient Kyoto.
Hojo Garden,” famous as Kyoto’s representative dry landscape garden, is 25m wide and 10m deep, with 15 stones arranged in groups of 5, 2, 3, 2, and 3 on white sand, starting from the east. It is said that it is impossible to see everything from everywhere at once, and is also known as the “Toranoko Watashi no Niwa” garden.
In addition to the stone garden, there are many other attractions such as a tsukubai (water pot) with an engraved message, Japan’s oldest wabisuke camellia, Kagayoike Pond, and the “Ryoanji Fence,” a bamboo fence by the stone steps leading to the koryu (the temple’s main sanctuary).
Ryoan-ji Temple poses various questions to visitors. Let’s learn the spirit of Zen in peace and quiet.
8:00-17:00
December - February 8:30 - 16:30
Open all year round
Admission fee
Adults and high school students: 500 yen
Elementary/junior high school students: 300 yen
By bus
From JR/Kinki Nippon Railway Kyoto Station
City bus No. 50, 7 min. walk from Ritsumeikan Daigaku-mae bus stop.
From Hankyu Railway Omiya Station
Take city bus No.55 and get off at Ritsumeikan Daigaku-mae. 7 min. walk.
From Sanjo Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Line
Take city bus No.59 and get off at Ryoan-ji-mae bus stop.
By train
Keifuku Line: 7 minutes walk from Ryoanji Station