Goo Shrine
Imperial Palace, Kyoto
- Daily
- 6:00 to 21:00
The shrine office is open 9:30 to 16:30.
Source: ja.kyoto.travel, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Goo Shrine stands on Karasuma-dori, west of the palace, and honours Wake no Kiyomaro, who urged Emperor Kanmu to move the capital to Heian-kyo, and his sister Hiromushi, who raised war orphans. A legend says 300 wild boars guarded Kiyomaro on his way to Usa, so boars stand where you'd expect guardian dogs. The shrine moved here from Jingo-ji in 1886.
Insider tip
People come to pray for bad legs and backs, after the story that Kiyomaro's crippled legs healed once the boars had helped him. On 1 November the Inoko-sai festival pounds rice cakes, carries them to the palace in Heian dress and shares them with visitors, from 17:00 in 2026. The grounds are free.
What's on at Goo Shrine
Upcoming events at Goo Shrine and within a ten-minute walk, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Inoko-sai at Goo Shrine
亥子祭
Time From 17:00 Station Marutamachi (Karasuma Line), 6 min walk
Goo Shrine, guarded by stone boars, re-creates a Heian court custom in which inoko rice cakes are pounded and carried to the Imperial Palace by a procession in court dress, then shared with visitors back at the shrine. You can join the procession in a boar-crested jacket for an offering of ¥1,000 or more on the day.
Brakeet, CC0 1.0 Cherry Festival at the Old Kyoto Prefectural Office
京都府庁旧本館 観桜祭
Time 10:00 to 17:00, light-up 18:00 to 20:00 to 5 April Station Marutamachi (Karasuma Line), 10 min walk
Seven cherries fill the courtyard of the old prefectural office, an Important Cultural Property, among them a grandchild of Maruyama Park's first weeping cherry and the rare Katamori-zakura. It's lit up in the evenings for the first week.
J o, CC BY-SA 3.0 Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages)
時代祭
Time Leaves the Imperial Palace 12:00, Karasuma Oike about 12:50, Heian Shrine about 14:30 Station Marutamachi or Imadegawa (Karasuma Line)
Heian Shrine's festival is a 2 km costume parade of about 2,000 people, 70 horses and two oxen, walking back through history from the Meiji Restoration loyalists to the Heian court, and it leaves the Imperial Palace at noon. Paid seats are set up in the palace grounds, on Oike-dori and on Jingu-michi, and rain moves it to 23 Oct.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 Kan'ei Imperial Procession Re-enactment (400th Anniversary)
寛永行幸四百年祭 行幸行列再現
Time Leaves Kenreimon about 12:30, reaches Nijo Castle east gate about 15:00 Station Marutamachi or Imadegawa (Karasuma Line)
About 330 people re-create Emperor Go-Mizunoo's 1626 procession to Nijo Castle in three groups, led by Empress Masako, the shogun Iemitsu and the emperor, with court musicians, walking about 3 km from the palace's Kenreimon gate. It goes ahead in light rain but not heavy rain, and Nijo Castle's last entry that day is at noon.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 Jidai Matsuri
時代祭
Time Procession from 12:00 Station Marutamachi or Imadegawa (Karasuma Line)
About 2,000 Kyoto people in costume from the city's thousand years as capital form a 2-kilometre procession, running back in time from the Meiji Restoration to the Heian period. It leaves the Imperial Palace at 12:00 for Heian Shrine and takes about two hours to pass, there are paid seats in Kyoto Gyoen, on Oike-dori and on Jingu-michi, and rain moves it to the next day.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 Nearby
Around Imperial Palace
Free palace walks, a park that never shuts, and the court's old shops
Kyoto Gyoen, a park 1.3 km long in central Kyoto, never closes. The Kyoto Imperial Palace sits inside it, and you can walk round it for free without booking. Around the edges you'll find Shokoku-ji (head of the Zen branch that takes in Kinkaku-ji), the house site where The Tale of Genji was written, and shops that once supplied the court.
Imperial Palace has 23 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 6 shrines and temples, 5 landmarks, 3 museums, 2 cafes, 2 restaurants, 2 shops, 2 parks and gardens and 1 bar. Read the Imperial Palace guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Goo Shrine?
- 385 Okakuen-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市上京区烏丸通下長者町下ル桜鶴円町385).
- What are the opening hours of Goo Shrine?
- Daily 6:00 to 21:00. The shrine office is open 9:30 to 16:30.
- How do I get to Goo Shrine?
- The nearest station is Marutamachi (Karasuma Line). Goo Shrine is in Imperial Palace, Kyoto.
- How much does Goo Shrine cost?
- Nothing. Goo Shrine is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Goo Shrine?
- Plan for 15 min.
- When is the best time to visit Goo Shrine?
- 1 November, for Inoko-sai.
Stay near Goo Shrine
Browse live availability and compare prices around Imperial Palace.
See hotels near Goo Shrine on Booking.comPrices are for the night of Saturday 17 October. You can change the dates on Booking.com. If you book, Roam Kyoto earns a small commission from Stay22 at no extra cost to you.