Yasaka Pagoda
Higashiyama, Kyoto
Source: ja.kyoto.travel, checked 11 Oct 2026.
The Yasaka Pagoda is the five-storey, 46-metre tower of Hokan-ji, a temple said to have been founded in the Asuka period. The shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori rebuilt it in 1440, and inside are five Buddhas of the Five Wisdoms, with a big old foundation stone under their altar. Only the pagoda and two halls, the Yakushi-do and the Taishi-do, are left of the temple.
Insider tip
Looking at it from the slope of Yasaka-dori costs nothing. Going inside costs a fee, and no official page gives its opening hours, so call ahead (075-551-2417) if you want to go in.
What the guides say about Yasaka Pagoda
2. Kiyomizu-dera at 6:00. Get there when the gates open and you'll be on the wooden stage long before the day's crowds. It's about 13 metres high on eighteen zelkova pillars, and the joints don't use a single nail. City Bus 100 or 206 to Gojozaka leaves you a 10-minute walk away. Afterwards, walk down Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka, stone-stepped lanes of late Edo and Taisho townhouses near the Yasaka Pagoda. The Higashiyama guide has more.
What's on near Yasaka Pagoda
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Yasaka Pagoda, from the weekly Kyoto events calendar.
Spring Night Viewing at Kodai-ji
春の夜間特別拝観（高台寺）
Time 17:00 to 21:30 (gates close 22:00) Station Higashiyama Yasui bus stop (City Bus 206), 7 min walk
Hideyoshi's widow Nene's temple lights its garden for spring evenings: the Garyu pond and the bamboo grove past the Kasa-tei and Shigure-tei tea houses are the ones to see. You follow the same route as by day.
Tetsuhiro Terada, CC BY 2.0 Autumn Night Viewing at Kodai-ji
秋の夜間特別拝観（高台寺）
Time 9:00 to 22:00, lit from 17:00 (last entry 21:30) Station Higashiyama Yasui bus stop (City Bus 206, 207)
Kodai-ji stays open after dark through the autumn season, with the grounds lit from 17:00. One ticket covers day and night, ¥800 for adults in 2026, but you can't go back in once you've left.
Tetsuhiro Terada, CC BY 2.0 Entoku-in Autumn Exhibition and Night Viewing
圓徳院特別展と夜間特別拝観
Time Night viewing 17:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30), screens on show from 10:00 Station Higashiyama Yasui bus stop (City Bus 206)
Nene spent her last 19 years at this Kodai-ji sub-temple, and its north garden, a dry landscape later reworked by Kobori Enshu, is lit at night while the Toyotomi family's Teikan-zu screens are on show. A ¥1,200 ticket covers both Entoku-in and Kodai-ji, and it's closed on 11 and 12 Dec.
Ryoma Festival
龍馬祭
Time 15:30 Station Higashiyama Yasui bus stop (City Bus 86, 206), 7 min walk
On the anniversary of Sakamoto Ryoma's death, fans gather at his grave above Higashiyama, and shamo chicken hotpot, the dish he was about to eat the night he was killed, is offered and shared with visitors. The festival is free, but the grave area costs ¥300.
Oilstreet, CC BY 2.5 Rokudo Mairi at Rokudo Chinno-ji
六道まいり（六道珍皇寺）
Time 6:00 to 22:00 Station Kiyomizu-michi bus stop (City Bus 206), 3 min walk
Before Obon, Kyoto families come to this temple at the old crossroads to the underworld to ring the mukae-gane bell and call their ancestors home, carrying sprigs of koyamaki bought from stalls on the approach.
663highland, CC BY 2.5 Nearby
Around Higashiyama
Kiyomizu-dera at opening, then the temples and pottery below it
Higashiyama is a whole ward, but this guide covers the slope from Kiyomizu-dera down to Shichijo-dori. Go early. The temple's gates open at 6:00, and if you're there then, you'll reach its wooden stage long before the day's crowds. Later, walk down past the pottery shops of Gojozaka to Sanjusangendo, where 1,001 statues of Kannon stand in a hall 120 metres long.
Higashiyama has 22 places on the Roam Kyoto map: 10 shrines and temples, 4 shops, 2 museums, 2 neighbourhoods, 1 cafe, 1 viewpoint, 1 restaurant and 1 landmark. Read the Higashiyama guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Yasaka Pagoda?
- 388 Yasaka-kamimachi, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto (in Japanese: 京都市東山区清水八坂上町388).
- How do I get to Yasaka Pagoda?
- The nearest station is Kiyomizu-michi bus stop (City Bus 206, 207). Yasaka Pagoda is in Higashiyama, Kyoto.
- How much does Yasaka Pagoda cost?
- Nothing. Yasaka Pagoda is free to visit.
- How long do you need at Yasaka Pagoda?
- Plan for 15 min.
- When is the best time to visit Yasaka Pagoda?
- Early morning.
Stay near Yasaka Pagoda
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