Nagi Shrine
Nijo, Kyoto
- Daily
- Open all day
The office for goshuin and amulets opens 9:00 to 17:00.
Source: motogion-nagijinja.or.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
Nagi Shrine, also called Moto-Gion, marks where the god Susanoo was first enshrined in 869, in a wood of tens of thousands of nagi trees, during a plague. When the deity moved on to Yasaka, locals saw it off with decorated parasols and music, said to be the origin of the Gion Festival's kasahoko parasol floats. Two main halls stand side by side, its own and the Hayabusa Shrine's.
Insider tip
If you're here on the 17th of a month, that's En no Hi, when the shrine offers a special enishi-fuda talisman. On the third Sunday of May the Shinkosai procession goes round Mibu, led by boys dressed as imperial loyalist troops. Mibu-dera and Yagi House are just to the south.
What's on near Nagi Shrine
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Nagi Shrine, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
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 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 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 Nagi Shrine?
- 18-2 Mibu Nagi-no-miya-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都府京都市中京区壬生梛ノ宮町18-2).
- What are the opening hours of Nagi Shrine?
- Nagi Shrine is open all day. The office for goshuin and amulets opens 9:00 to 17:00.
- How do I get to Nagi Shrine?
- The nearest station is Omiya (Hankyu Kyoto Line). Nagi Shrine is in Nijo, Kyoto.
- How much does Nagi Shrine cost?
- Nothing. Nagi Shrine is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Nagi Shrine?
- Plan for 15 min.
- When is the best time to visit Nagi Shrine?
- Third Sunday of May.
Stay near Nagi Shrine
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