Lake Biwa Canal Museum
Okazaki, Kyoto
- Tue to Sun
- 9:00 to 17:00
- Mon
- Closed
Last entry 16:30, and the drum house closes to visitors at 16:00. When Monday is a public holiday it closes the next weekday instead. Closed 29 December to 3 January.
Source: biwakososui-museum.city.kyoto.lg.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
This free city museum tells the story of the Lake Biwa Canal, dug through the hills from 1885 to 1890 to bring boats, water and later hydroelectric power into Kyoto. There's a model of boats riding up the Keage Incline on their carriages, a diorama of Keage and Okazaki, and the drum house where the winches for the incline's cables were worked.
Insider tip
It's free and closed on Mondays. The drum house closes to visitors at 16:00. Step out on the terrace for the view of the canal and its fountain, and in spring the canal boats leave from the boat basin nearby.
What's on near Lake Biwa Canal Museum
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Lake Biwa Canal Museum, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Kyoto City Zoo Autumn Night Opening
京都市動物園 秋の夜間開園
Time 10 to 12, 17, 24 and 31 Oct and 7 Nov, open to 20:00 (last entry 19:30) Station Keage (Tozai Line), 7 min walk
On seven autumn days the zoo stays open until 20:00 and is lit after dark, with keeper talks at 17:30, 18:00 and 18:30 and an outdoor film at 19:00 from 12 Oct. Entry is the usual ¥750, free for junior high school students and younger, and gorillas, monkeys and some birds aren't on show at night.
inunami, CC BY 2.0 Thinking Sculptors: Raphaël Zarka and Horiuchi Masakazu
思考する彫刻家 ラファエル・ザルカと堀内正和（仮称）
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), closed Mondays except 22 March and 3 May Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
The Paris sculptor Raphaël Zarka, known for sculpture you can skate on, shown with the Kyoto-born abstract pioneer Horiuchi Masakazu through finished works, sketches, notebooks and models. Zarka is researching at Villa Kujoyama and will show new pieces made there.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 Gilbert & George
ギルバート＆ジョージ展
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), closed Mondays unless a holiday Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
Japan's first big Gilbert & George show in 30 years, from the 1969 film of their Singing Sculpture to the huge recent photo pictures. Photos and films from their 1970s visits to Japan are planned too.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 Yamaga Seika: Textile Artist of Soaring Imagination
特別展 生誕140年記念 染織家 山鹿清華 宙翔ぶイマジネーション
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30) Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
The first retrospective in 40 years of Yamaga Seika, who designed, chose the thread and wove his own tapestries, from Gion Matsuri float hangings to wall pieces showing locomotives, rockets and Tokyo Tower. It's closed on Mondays unless they're holidays.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 Zen and Ghibli
「禅とジブリ」京都展
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30) Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
Built on producer Suzuki Toshio's book of conversations with Zen monks, this hands-on show looks at Ghibli films through a Zen eye, set in the world of Miyazaki Hayao's The Boy and the Heron. It's closed on Mondays unless they're holidays, and numbered entry tickets may be handed out when it's crowded.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 Nearby
Around Okazaki
Art museums, Meiji gardens and Nanzen-ji along the Lake Biwa Canal
Okazaki is Kyoto's museum quarter. Two art museums sit either side of the approach to Heian Shrine, by its giant torii, and the zoo, a crafts museum and ROHM Theatre Kyoto are a few minutes away round Okazaki Park. Follow the Lake Biwa Canal east and you're at Nanzen-ji, with Eikan-do and Murin-an a short walk from its gate.
Okazaki has 27 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 9 shrines and temples, 6 museums, 4 restaurants, 2 cafes, 2 shops, 2 landmarks and 2 parks and gardens. Read the Okazaki guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Lake Biwa Canal Museum?
- 17 Nanzenji Kusakawacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市左京区南禅寺草川町17).
- What are the opening hours of Lake Biwa Canal Museum?
- Tue to Sun 9:00 to 17:00; Closed Mon. Last entry 16:30, and the drum house closes to visitors at 16:00. When Monday is a public holiday it closes the next weekday instead. Closed 29 December to 3 January.
- How do I get to Lake Biwa Canal Museum?
- The nearest station is Keage (Tozai Line). Lake Biwa Canal Museum is in Okazaki, Kyoto.
- How much does Lake Biwa Canal Museum cost?
- Nothing. Lake Biwa Canal Museum is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Lake Biwa Canal Museum?
- Plan for 45 min.
- When is the best time to visit Lake Biwa Canal Museum?
- Before walking the Keage Incline.
Stay near Lake Biwa Canal Museum
Browse live availability and compare prices around Okazaki.
See hotels near Lake Biwa Canal Museum 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.