Murin-an
Okazaki, Kyoto
1 Apr to 30 Sep
- Daily
- 9:00 to 18:00
Rest of the year
- Daily
- 9:00 to 17:00
Last entry 30 minutes before closing. Entry is in hourly time slots booked online, and without a booking you may be turned away when it's busy. Closed 29 to 31 December, open over the New Year.
Source: murin-an.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Murin-an was the villa of the Meiji statesman Yamagata Aritomo, built from 1894 to 1896, and the seventh Ogawa Jihei laid out its garden with Lake Biwa Canal water running through it like a country stream and the Higashiyama hills as its backdrop. Yamagata wanted lawn, not moss, though more than 50 kinds of moss have since taken over. Upstairs in the Western-style house is the room where he and Ito Hirobumi talked foreign policy before the Russo-Japanese War.
Insider tip
Book an hourly slot online, up to 30 days ahead, because only 15 people go in at a time and walk-ins can be turned away when it's busy. Entry is ¥600 on normal days and up to ¥1,500 on busy dates, including 31 October to 6 December 2026. On the 28th of each month it's free if you're 35 or under.
What the guides say about Murin-an
17. Some places sell timed tickets. Murin-an lets in 15 people at a time, on hourly slots you book online up to 30 days ahead. Nijo Castle's Honmaru Palace costs ¥1,000 extra on a timed web ticket that goes on sale 30 days ahead, and seats on the Sagano Romantic Train go on sale online at midnight a month before. Eikan-do doesn't sell tickets ahead, so you just turn up early.
13. Okazaki and the canal. Nanzen-ji's 22 m Sanmon has a balcony you can climb (¥600), and a red-brick aqueduct carries the Lake Biwa Canal past the temple. Walk the rails of the Keage Incline, 582 m of old boat railway, for free. Murin-an lets in 15 people at a time on hourly slots you book online.
What's on near Murin-an
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Murin-an, 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 Murin-an?
- 31 Nanzenji Kusakawacho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市左京区南禅寺草川町31番地).
- What are the opening hours of Murin-an?
- 1 Apr to 30 Sep: Daily 9:00 to 18:00. Rest of the year: Daily 9:00 to 17:00. Last entry 30 minutes before closing. Entry is in hourly time slots booked online, and without a booking you may be turned away when it's busy. Closed 29 to 31 December, open over the New Year.
- How do I get to Murin-an?
- The nearest station is Keage (Tozai Line). Murin-an is in Okazaki, Kyoto.
- How much does Murin-an cost?
- Murin-an is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Murin-an?
- Plan for 1 hour.
- When is the best time to visit Murin-an?
- Right at opening.
Stay near Murin-an
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