Seiryo-ji
Arashiyama, Kyoto
- Daily
- 9:00 to 16:00
Open every day, but the halls can close for services.
Source: seiryoji.or.jp, checked 11 Oct 2026.
It also goes by Saga Shakado, after its main image, a sandalwood Shaka that the monk Chonen brought back from Song China in 987. The statue is a National Treasure, and model internal organs, prayers and sutras were later found sealed inside it. Its two-storey Niomon gate, rebuilt in the 1780s, stands right in the middle of Sagano.
Insider tip
The grounds are free and the main hall is ¥500. In April, May, October and November the treasure hall opens too, on a ¥900 joint ticket, and its Amida triad is linked to Minamoto no Toru, the model for Genji. In spring and autumn the Saga Dainenbutsu Kyogen is performed on the kyogen stage.
What's on at Seiryo-ji
Upcoming events at Seiryo-ji and within a ten-minute walk, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Saga Dainenbutsu Kyogen Autumn Performance
嵯峨大念佛狂言 秋季定期公演
Time 13:30 to 16:30 (former members' show from 11:30) Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28, 91), 2 min walk
Masked players act out plays without a word on Seiryo-ji's kyogen stage, one of Kyoto's three great nembutsu kyogen and an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. This autumn it's Hashi Benkei, Shibari Bozu and Tsuchigumo from 13:30, after a show of Momijigari by former members at 11:30, and it's free and goes ahead in rain.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Saga Otaimatsu Fire Festival at Seiryo-ji
涅槃会とお松明式（清凉寺）
Time Kyogen from 15:30, torches about 20:00 Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28), 2 min walk
Three giant torches are lit in front of the main hall around 20:00 to recall the Buddha's cremation. Before that, from 15:30, you can watch Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen, one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen, masked plays without words, for free.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen spring performance
嵯峨大念佛狂言 春季公演（清凉寺）
Time From 13:30 Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28), 2 min walk
Masked plays without words, performed by the Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen preservation society on the kyogen stage at Seiryo-ji, one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen. Free to watch, rain or shine.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Saga Matsuri
嵯峨祭 還幸祭
Time From 10:00, at Arashiyama Nakanoshima Park about 15:00 Station Saga-Arashiyama (JR Sagano Line), 10 min walk
The festival of the Atago and Nonomiya shrines: on its last day about 600 bearers carry the mikoshi round Saga and across Togetsukyo, behind halberd floats and a children's procession. The mikoshi come out to the otabisho a week earlier.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 Daikaku-ji Shinden Special Opening for the Kan'ei Visit's 400th Year
寛永行幸400年記念・宸殿特別拝観
Time 9:00 to 16:50 (last entry 16:30) Station Daikakuji bus stop (City Bus 28, 91)
Daikaku-ji lets you inside the Peony Room of its Shinden, the hall Empress Tofukumon'in lived in, to see Kano Sanraku's peony paintings up close. It's included in the normal ¥800 entry, and the autumn treasure show runs alongside for an extra ¥500.
m-louis ., CC BY-SA 2.0 Nearby
Around Arashiyama
Bamboo at first light, then the maple temples under Mount Ogura
Arashiyama is on Kyoto's north-western edge, where Togetsukyo Bridge crosses the Oi River with wooded hills right behind it. You'll want the bridge, Tenryu-ji and the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and so will everyone else. Go early. Then walk north into Sagano. Its temples line the foot of Mount Ogura, and it's quieter at the far end, which Kyoto's official tourism site calls Okusaga.
Arashiyama has 30 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 14 shrines and temples, 4 landmarks, 3 parks and gardens, 2 restaurants, 2 bathhouses, 1 cafe, 1 museum, 1 viewpoint, 1 shop and 1 neighbourhood. Read the Arashiyama guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Seiryo-ji?
- 46 Saga-Shakado Fujinoki-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市右京区嵯峨釈迦堂藤ノ木町46).
- What are the opening hours of Seiryo-ji?
- Daily 9:00 to 16:00. Open every day, but the halls can close for services.
- How do I get to Seiryo-ji?
- The nearest station is Saga-Arashiyama (JR Sagano Line). Seiryo-ji is in Arashiyama, Kyoto.
- How much does Seiryo-ji cost?
- Seiryo-ji is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Seiryo-ji?
- Plan for 45 min.
- When is the best time to visit Seiryo-ji?
- When the treasure hall opens.
Stay near Seiryo-ji
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