Gio-ji
Arashiyama, Kyoto
- Daily
- 9:00 to 16:50
Last entry 16:30.
Source: giouji.or.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Gio-ji is a small thatched nunnery hidden in bamboo and maples, with a story straight out of The Tale of the Heike. Gio, a dancer favoured by Taira no Kiyomori, was pushed out when he tired of her and became a nun here with her mother and sister. In the hut, a big round window glows with the colours of the garden outside, and the temple calls it the rainbow window.
Insider tip
Entry is ¥500, or ¥1,000 on a joint ticket that also covers Daikaku-ji's halls. There are no visitor toilets, and tripods and monopods aren't allowed. It's about 25 minutes on foot from Saga-Arashiyama Station.
What's on near Gio-ji
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Gio-ji, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Sento Kuyo Candle Service at Adashino Nenbutsu-ji
千灯供養（化野念仏寺）
Time 17:30 to 21:00 (last entry 20:30), sutras from 18:00 Station Saga-Arashiyama (JR Sagano Line)
On the last weekend of August, candles are lit at dusk among the temple's stone Buddhas and stupas, which local people gathered from the old Adashino burial ground in the Meiji era, for the souls nobody remembers. Sutras start at 18:00, and lanterns line the old Atago road outside on the same evenings.
Zairon, CC BY 4.0 Saga Dainenbutsu Kyogen Autumn Performance
嵯峨大念佛狂言 秋季定期公演
Time 13:30 to 16:30 (former members' show from 11:30) Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28, 91), 2 min walk
Masked players act out plays without a word on Seiryo-ji's kyogen stage, one of Kyoto's three great nembutsu kyogen and an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. This autumn it's Hashi Benkei, Shibari Bozu and Tsuchigumo from 13:30, after a show of Momijigari by former members at 11:30, and it's free and goes ahead in rain.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Saga Otaimatsu Fire Festival at Seiryo-ji
涅槃会とお松明式（清凉寺）
Time Kyogen from 15:30, torches about 20:00 Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28), 2 min walk
Three giant torches are lit in front of the main hall around 20:00 to recall the Buddha's cremation. Before that, from 15:30, you can watch Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen, one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen, masked plays without words, for free.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen spring performance
嵯峨大念佛狂言 春季公演（清凉寺）
Time From 13:30 Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28), 2 min walk
Masked plays without words, performed by the Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen preservation society on the kyogen stage at Seiryo-ji, one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen. Free to watch, rain or shine.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Saga Matsuri
嵯峨祭 還幸祭
Time From 10:00, at Arashiyama Nakanoshima Park about 15:00 Station Saga-Arashiyama (JR Sagano Line), 10 min walk
The festival of the Atago and Nonomiya shrines: on its last day about 600 bearers carry the mikoshi round Saga and across Togetsukyo, behind halberd floats and a children's procession. The mikoshi come out to the otabisho a week earlier.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Nearby
Around Arashiyama
Bamboo at first light, then the maple temples under Mount Ogura
Arashiyama is on Kyoto's north-western edge, where Togetsukyo Bridge crosses the Oi River with wooded hills right behind it. You'll want the bridge, Tenryu-ji and the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and so will everyone else. Go early. Then walk north into Sagano. Its temples line the foot of Mount Ogura, and it's quieter at the far end, which Kyoto's official tourism site calls Okusaga.
Arashiyama has 30 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 14 shrines and temples, 4 landmarks, 3 parks and gardens, 2 restaurants, 2 bathhouses, 1 cafe, 1 museum, 1 viewpoint, 1 shop and 1 neighbourhood. Read the Arashiyama guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Gio-ji?
- 32 Saga-Toriimoto Kozaka-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市右京区嵯峨鳥居本小坂町32).
- What are the opening hours of Gio-ji?
- Daily 9:00 to 16:50. Last entry 16:30.
- How do I get to Gio-ji?
- The nearest station is Saga-Arashiyama (JR Sagano Line). Gio-ji is in Arashiyama, Kyoto.
- How much does Gio-ji cost?
- Gio-ji is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Gio-ji?
- Plan for 30 min.
- When is the best time to visit Gio-ji?
- Weekday mornings.
Stay near Gio-ji
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