Kuginuki Jizo
Kitano, Kyoto
- Daily
- 8:00 to 16:30
Open every day.
Source: ja.kyoto.travel, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Kuginuki Jizo, officially Shakuzo-ji, is a small temple on Senbon-dori said to have been founded by Kukai in 819. People come to its Jizo to have their pain pulled out, and the walls around its hall are covered in thank-you plaques, each with two long nails and a pair of pincers fixed to it.
Insider tip
It's open 8:00 to 16:30 every day. Senbon Enma-do is about 250 m north on the same street.
What's on near Kuginuki Jizo
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Kuginuki Jizo, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Okame Setsubun at Senbon Shakado
おかめ福節分会（千本釈迦堂）
Time Rites and bean throwing from about 15:00 Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50, 55, 203)
Setsubun at the temple of Okame, the carpenter's wife whose advice saved the main hall: a kyogen demon-chasing play in which her good fortune makes the demons bow, then bean throwing with the actors and maiko.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Daikon-daki at Senbon Shakado
成道会法要と大根（だいこ）焚き
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50), 3 min walk
Daikon radishes marked with Sanskrit letters are blessed, cut into rounds and simmered with fried tofu in huge pots, and a bowl is said to keep illness away. The temple holds it on 7 and 8 Dec to mark the Buddha's enlightenment.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Pottery Fair at Senbon Shakado
陶器市（千本釈迦堂）
Time 10:00 to sunset Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50)
Pottery sellers from around Japan fill the temple grounds for four days, with a handmade market alongside from 10:00 to 16:00 and a memorial service for pottery in the main hall on the 10th.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 Senbon Enma-do Kyogen
千本ゑんま堂大念佛狂言
Time Weekdays 19:00, holidays 12:00 and 18:00 Station Senbon-Kuramaguchi bus stop (City Bus 206), right by the stop
The only one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen with spoken lines, so it's the easiest to follow, and plenty of the pieces are comic. Free.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Kitano Odori
北野をどり
Time 14:00 and 16:30 (doors open an hour before) Station Kitano Tenmangu-mae bus stop (City Bus 50, 51, 55, 203), 3 min walk
Kamishichiken, Kyoto's oldest geisha district, opens the spring dance season in the Kamishichiken Kaburenjo, a Japanese-style theatre that's not normally open to the public. Each show runs about 90 minutes.
mrhayata, CC BY-SA 2.0 Nearby
Around Kitano
Tenjin's head shrine, Kyoto's oldest geisha district and Daitoku-ji
Start at Kitano Tenmangu, head shrine of about 12,000 Tenjin shrines, founded in 947 for Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar students still pray to before exams. Come on the 25th, when the Tenjin-san Market fills the approach and the lanterns are lit after dark. Kamishichiken, Kyoto's oldest geisha district, lines the shrine's east approach, and Daitoku-ji's Zen temples are about 1.7 km north-east.
Kitano has 25 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 10 shrines and temples, 3 cafes, 3 shops, 2 restaurants, 2 bathhouses, 1 viewpoint, 1 neighbourhood, 1 museum, 1 bar and 1 market. Read the Kitano guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Kuginuki Jizo?
- Hanaguruma-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市上京区千本通上立売上ル花車町).
- What are the opening hours of Kuginuki Jizo?
- Daily 8:00 to 16:30. Open every day.
- How do I get to Kuginuki Jizo?
- The nearest station is Senbon-Kamidachiuri bus stop (City Bus 206). Kuginuki Jizo is in Kitano, Kyoto.
- How much does Kuginuki Jizo cost?
- Nothing. Kuginuki Jizo is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Kuginuki Jizo?
- Plan for 15 min.
- When is the best time to visit Kuginuki Jizo?
- Morning.
Stay near Kuginuki Jizo
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