Mibu-dera
Nijo, Kyoto
- Daily
- 8:00 to 17:00
The Mibu-zuka and the history room open 9:00 to 16:00.
Source: ja.kyoto.travel, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Mibu-dera is a Ritsu sect temple founded in 991, visited for centuries to ward off bad luck, and in the 1860s the Shinsengumi trained in martial arts and with cannon in its grounds. On an island in the pond, the Mibu-zuka holds the graves of 11 Shinsengumi members, with busts of Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo. A cone of 1,000 stone Buddhas, gathered from around the city in the Meiji era, is built to look like a Myanmar pagoda.
Insider tip
You'll pay ¥300 for the Mibu-zuka and the history room under the Amida hall. Mibu Kyogen, masked Buddhist plays without words, run from 29 April to 5 May and over the October long weekend with Sports Day, and you just pay ¥1,000 at the door, no booking. At Setsubun in early February the play Setsubun is staged four times each evening, free.
What the guides say about Mibu-dera
14. Mibu and the Sanjo-kai arcade. The Shinsengumi trained at Mibu-dera in the 1860s, and across the road Yagi House still has sword cuts from 1863 in its back room (¥1,100 with matcha). Walk north to Sanjo-kai Shopping Street, an arcade about 800 m long with a butcher, greengrocers and bakeries. Daniel lived in Kyoto for a while near Shijo-Omiya station, about ten minutes on foot from Mibu-dera.
The tourism association calls the area round Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace relatively calm, with hotels and guesthouses that fit in with local life. Daniel lived for a while near Shijo-Omiya station, at the south end of this area, about ten minutes on foot from Mibu-dera. You won't get much of an evening, though. The castle and Mibu-dera shut by 17:00, which leaves Menbaka Fire Ramen, open until 22:00.
What's on at Mibu-dera
Upcoming events at Mibu-dera, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Mibu Kyogen Autumn Performances
壬生狂言 秋の公開
Time 13:00 to about 17:30 (doors 12:30) Station Mibudera-michi bus stop (City Bus 26, 28, 71), 1 min walk
Masked performers act out Buddhist stories in silent mime to gongs, drums and flutes, a 700-year-old tradition listed as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. There are six plays a day of about 45 minutes each, and seats are unreserved, so you just pay at the gate.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Setsubun at Mibu-dera
節分会（壬生寺）
Time 8:00 to 21:00 (4 February 9:00 to 19:00) Station Mibudera-michi bus stop (City Bus 26, 28)
Three days of Setsubun rites at the temple that guards Kyoto's southwest corner, with stalls and the silent Mibu Kyogen play Setsubun performed free on the hour from 17:00 to 20:00 on the 2nd and 3rd. You can buy an unglazed plate and write your family's ages and wishes on it, and it's smashed on stage at the spring and autumn kyogen.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Mibu Kyogen Spring Performances
壬生大念佛狂言 春の公開
Time 13:00 to 17:30, and 18:30 to 21:30 on 5 May Station Mibudera-michi bus stop (City Bus 26, 28)
Masked plays with no words, only gongs, drums and flute, performed by the temple's lay association for 700 years. Each day opens with Horokuwari, where a tower of the plates people wrote wishes on at Setsubun is pushed off the stage to smash.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Obon Lantern Service at Mibu-dera
盂蘭盆万灯供養会（壬生寺）
Time Sunset to 21:00 Station Omiya (Hankyu), 10 min walk
About a thousand lanterns dedicated to families' ancestors are lit in front of the main hall every evening of Obon, a service with records going back to 1153. Dedicating a lantern costs ¥2,000 the first year.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Mibu Kyogen Autumn Performances
壬生狂言 秋の公開
Time 13:00 to 17:30 Station Omiya (Hankyu), 10 min walk
Masked players act out Buddhist tales without a word to gong, drum and flute, a 700-year-old tradition and an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. The autumn run is three days over the Sports Day weekend, ¥1,000 on the day and unreserved.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 Nearby
Around Nijo
The shogun's castle, with the Shinsengumi's Mibu a walk south
Most people come for Nijo Castle, and it's worth its two hours. Tokugawa Ieyasu built it in 1603, and its Ninomaru Palace is the only palace complex still standing inside a Japanese castle. Then walk south, past a pond garden first laid out in 794 and an 800 m covered shopping street, to the temple in Mibu where the Shinsengumi trained.
Nijo has 17 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 5 shrines and temples, 3 landmarks, 3 shops, 2 restaurants, 1 bar, 1 cafe, 1 museum and 1 bathhouse. Read the Nijo guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Mibu-dera?
- 31 Mibu Nagi-no-miya-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市中京区壬生梛ノ宮町31).
- What are the opening hours of Mibu-dera?
- Daily 8:00 to 17:00. The Mibu-zuka and the history room open 9:00 to 16:00.
- How do I get to Mibu-dera?
- The nearest station is Omiya (Hankyu Kyoto Line), Shijo-Omiya (Randen). Mibu-dera is in Nijo, Kyoto.
- How much does Mibu-dera cost?
- Mibu-dera is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Mibu-dera?
- Plan for 45 min.
- When is the best time to visit Mibu-dera?
- 29 April to 5 May.
Stay near Mibu-dera
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