Kawai Kanjiro's House
Higashiyama, Kyoto
- Tue to Sun
- 10:00 to 17:00
- Mon
- Closed
Last entry 16:30. Open on a Monday holiday, closed the next day. Closed for summer and winter breaks (10 to 24 August in 2026).
Source: kanjiro.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
The potter Kawai Kanjiro set up his home and kiln on this Gojozaka plot in 1920, and in 1937 he built the house you walk through now to his own design. It opened as a museum in 1973. The furniture and fittings are his designs or things he collected, and the quiet rooms still give a feel of how he lived.
Insider tip
Entry is ¥1,000. It's a small private museum, so groups of 7 to 10 have to phone ahead and come on a weekday. Check the home page before you go, since it closes for about two weeks in summer and over New Year.
What's on near Kawai Kanjiro's House
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Kawai Kanjiro's House, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Gojo Wakamiya Pottery Fair
五条若宮陶器祭
Time 10:00 to 21:00 Station Kiyomizu-Gojo (Keihan), 5 min walk
Potters and kilns, about 130 of them in 2026, sell along the pavements of Gojo-dori between Yamatooji and Higashioji and at Wakamiya Hachimangu. The fair ran for about a century from the Taisho era and was revived in 2023, and it goes ahead in the rain.
The Tale of Genji: Radiance of the Heian Court
特別展 源氏物語 王朝のかがやき
Time 9:00 to 17:30, Fridays to 20:00 (last entry 30 minutes before) Station Shichijo (Keihan), 7 min walk
The Kyoto National Museum's first Tale of Genji exhibition in about 50 years shows paintings, crafts, manuscripts and commentaries, about 250 works across its Kyoto and Tokyo runs, including the Aobyoshi-bon text edited by Fujiwara no Teika and the scattered 'phantom' Moriyasu Genji scroll. The display changes on 3 Nov, and the museum is closed on Mondays (open 12 Oct and 23 Nov), 13 Oct and 24 Nov.
kajikawa, CC BY 3.0 New Year Feature: All About Sheep
新春特集展示 ひつじづくし 干支を愛でる
Time 9:30 to 17:00, Fridays to 20:00 (last entry 30 minutes before) Station Shichijo (Keihan), 7 min walk
For 2027, the Year of the Sheep, the museum's New Year display gathers sheep in art from its collection, an animal rarely kept in Japan outside Hokkaido, so expect some oddities. A tea utensils feature runs at the same time, the ticket covers every gallery in the Heisei Chishinkan, and it's closed on Mondays (open 11 Jan), from 28 Dec to 1 Jan and on 12 Jan.
kajikawa, CC BY 3.0 Kuya's Dancing Nembutsu at Rokuharamitsu-ji
空也踊躍念仏
Time 15:00 on 13 to 15, 19, 20 and 26 to 30 Dec Station Kiyomizu-michi bus stop (City Bus 206), 7 min walk
The dancing nembutsu that Kuya, the temple's founder, started to drive away an epidemic in the Heian period is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. It's held at 15:00 on 13 to 15, 19, 20 and 26 to 30 Dec, and the 31 Dec service is closed to the public.
Hikomi Moneru, CC BY 3.0 The Great Kano School, Part 2: Edo to Meiji
京都国立博物館開館130周年記念 特別展 大狩野派 第2部 江戸～明治編
Time 9:00 to 17:30 (last entry 17:00), Fridays to 20:00, closed Mondays except 19 July Station Shichijo (Keihan), 7 min walk
The second half of the museum's 130th-anniversary survey of the Kano painters, Japan's biggest school of artists, in the first show this size in half a century. Part 2 takes the story from the Edo period to Meiji with every work changed from Part 1. It's open to 20:00 on Fridays, and ticket prices haven't been announced yet.
kajikawa, CC BY 3.0 Nearby
Around Higashiyama
Kiyomizu-dera at opening, then the temples and pottery below it
Higashiyama is a whole ward, but this guide covers the slope from Kiyomizu-dera down to Shichijo-dori. Go early. The temple's gates open at 6:00, and if you're there then, you'll reach its wooden stage long before the day's crowds. Later, walk down past the pottery shops of Gojozaka to Sanjusangendo, where 1,001 statues of Kannon stand in a hall 120 metres long.
Higashiyama has 22 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 10 shrines and temples, 4 shops, 2 museums, 2 neighbourhoods, 1 cafe, 1 viewpoint, 1 restaurant and 1 landmark. Read the Higashiyama guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Kawai Kanjiro's House?
- 569 Gojozaka Kanei-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市東山区五条坂鐘鋳町569).
- What are the opening hours of Kawai Kanjiro's House?
- Tue to Sun 10:00 to 17:00; Closed Mon. Last entry 16:30. Open on a Monday holiday, closed the next day. Closed for summer and winter breaks (10 to 24 August in 2026).
- How do I get to Kawai Kanjiro's House?
- The nearest station is Umamachi bus stop (City Bus 206, 207). Kawai Kanjiro's House is in Higashiyama, Kyoto.
- How much does Kawai Kanjiro's House cost?
- Kawai Kanjiro's House is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Kawai Kanjiro's House?
- Plan for 1 hour.
- When is the best time to visit Kawai Kanjiro's House?
- Weekday mornings.
Stay near Kawai Kanjiro's House
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