Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa
Demachiyanagi, Kyoto
- Mon, Tue, Thu to Sun
- 9:00 to 17:00
- Wed
- Closed
Last entry 16:30. When Wednesday is a public holiday it opens, and closes the next day instead. Closed 29 to 31 December.
Source: ja.kyoto.travel, checked 11 Oct 2026.
The Mitsui merchant family built this villa in 1925 as a rest house for visits to its ancestral shrine, which had been moved to this site in 1909. The main house is older. It went up on Kiyamachi in 1880 and was moved here, with a third-floor lookout for views of the Higashiyama hills. You can walk through the house and a moss garden with a gourd-shaped pond fed by the Izumi river.
Insider tip
Entry is ¥500 on weekdays and ¥600 at weekends and on holidays. It's closed on Wednesdays. Matcha with a seasonal sweet costs ¥950, served looking out at the garden. The upper floors of the main house open only during special viewings, the next from 19 November to 6 December 2026.
What's on near Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Shimogamo Summer Used Book Fair
下鴨納涼古本まつり
Station Tadasunomori bus stop (City Bus 4, 205), 1 min walk
Secondhand booksellers set up under the trees of the Tadasu no Mori, a forest about three times the area of Tokyo Dome, with what the organisers call probably the biggest stock of old books at any fair in Japan.
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 Mori no Tezukuri-ichi Craft Market at Shimogamo Shrine (October)
森の手づくり市～秋の特別編2026～
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Shimogamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 205)
Craft stalls selling accessories, woodwork, leather, ceramics, cloth goods and sweets line Shimogamo Shrine's approach and the Tadasu no Mori forest, with food trucks and acoustic sets. It goes ahead in rain unless Kyoto has a storm warning.
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 Mori no Tezukuri-ichi Craft Market at Shimogamo Shrine (November)
森の手づくり市～秋の特別編2026～
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Shimogamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 205)
Craft stalls selling accessories, woodwork, leather, ceramics, cloth goods and sweets line Shimogamo Shrine's approach and the Tadasu no Mori forest over two days, with food trucks and acoustic sets. It goes ahead in rain unless Kyoto has a storm warning.
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 Kemari Hajime at Shimogamo Shrine
蹴鞠はじめ
Station Shimogamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 205)
Players keep a ball in the air with their feet at Shimogamo Shrine, the year's first game of kemari, the old court football.
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 Nagashibina Doll Floating at Shimogamo Shrine
流し雛（下鴨神社）
Time From 10:30, the floating at about 11:00 Station Shimogamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 4, 205)
A man and woman dressed as Heian dolls float small dolls on straw mats down the Mitarashi stream to carry away bad luck, and afterwards you can float one yourself (the mats are sold).
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 Nearby
Around Demachiyanagi
Stepping stones, a shrine forest and the trains to Kurama
Demachiyanagi is where the Kamo and Takano rivers meet, and where the Keihan line from Osaka ends. Come up out of the station and the Kamogawa Delta is right there, with stepping stones shaped like turtles and birds. Walk north from its tip and you're in Tadasu no Mori, the forest round Shimogamo Shrine. Eizan trains for Kurama and the foot of Mt Hiei leave from the platforms above ground.
Demachiyanagi has 15 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 5 shrines and temples, 2 landmarks, 2 parks and gardens, 2 cafes, 1 shop, 1 neighbourhood, 1 restaurant and 1 bathhouse. Read the Demachiyanagi guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa?
- 58-2 Shimogamo Miyakawa-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市左京区下鴨宮河町58-2).
- What are the opening hours of Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa?
- Mon, Tue, Thu to Sun 9:00 to 17:00; Closed Wed. Last entry 16:30. When Wednesday is a public holiday it opens, and closes the next day instead. Closed 29 to 31 December.
- How do I get to Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa?
- The nearest station is Demachiyanagi (Keihan, Eizan). Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa is in Demachiyanagi, Kyoto.
- How much does Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa cost?
- Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa?
- Plan for 45 min.
- When is the best time to visit Former Mitsui Family Shimogamo Villa?
- Weekday mornings.
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