Okazaki Canal
Okazaki, Kyoto
The Okazaki stretch of the Lake Biwa Canal runs through Okazaki Park and under the giant Heian Shrine torii, with cherry trees along its banks. In cherry season, Jikkokubune boats run 25-minute, roughly 3 km round trips from the Nanzen-ji boat basin, with a guide explaining the canal's history.
Insider tip
The banks are free to walk any time. The 2026 boats ran from 20 March to 15 April, every 15 minutes from 9:30 to 16:30, at ¥2,000 for adults, with tickets sold online and at the pier on the day. Each boat seats 24.
What's on near Okazaki Canal
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Okazaki Canal, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
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 Studio Ghibli Presents Hakuin's Zen
「スタジオジブリ企画制作 白隠さんの禅」京都展
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30) Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
The follow-up to Zen and Ghibli shows paintings and calligraphy by the Zen monk Hakuin Ekaku alongside video that Studio Ghibli made to put his teaching in today's terms. It's closed on Mondays (open on holidays) and from 28 Dec to 2 Jan.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 Nitten Kyoto Exhibition
第119回 日展京都展
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30) Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
Japan's biggest open-entry art exhibition tours to Kyoto with about 500 works in five sections, Japanese-style painting, Western-style painting, sculpture, crafts and calligraphy, including pieces by artists from Kyoto and Shiga. It's closed on Mondays unless they're holidays and from 28 Dec to 2 Jan.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 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 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
- How do I get to Okazaki Canal?
- The nearest station is Higashiyama (Tozai Line). Okazaki Canal is in Okazaki, Kyoto.
- How much does Okazaki Canal cost?
- Nothing. Okazaki Canal is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Okazaki Canal?
- Plan for 30 min.
- When is the best time to visit Okazaki Canal?
- Late March to mid April.
Stay near Okazaki Canal
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