Ninna-ji

photo by くろふね · CC BY 3.0

The Omuro-zakura are two metres tall: the flowers stay at eye level.

In mid-April, when the rest of Kyoto has already finished, a small grove of cherry trees about two metres tall blooms here: the flowers are at face height, not above your head, and you walk right in among them. You can walk through the grounds without a ticket; you pay for the palace gardens and for the museum. The five-storey pagoda, 36.18 metres tall, can only be seen from outside.

Founded in 888 as an imperial temple, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The five-storey pagoda was built in 1644 and is 36.18 metres tall, of which 32.7 is the body; it cannot be visited inside. The Omuro-zakura are the variety of low cherry tree that grows in the grounds and blooms in mid-April.

ℹ️ You can walk through the grounds for free: the website lists no ticket for the main complex. March–November 9:00–17:00, admission until 16:30; December–February 9:00–16:30, until 16:00. Museum ¥500 with limited opening; Omuro flower festival ¥800; free up to high school and for those with a disability certificate. ⚠️ The palace garden is given as ¥800 on one page of the temple's website and as ¥500 on another: ask at the ticket office. ⚠️ The tickets are separate and at the counter they offer the combined ticket: it is easy to pay over a thousand yen for things you did not want to see. From the ‘Omuro-Ninnaji’ stop on the Randen tram line it is three minutes' walk; the car park has 98 spaces.

🚉 Omuro-Ninnaji · 5 min walk

Sources: ninnaji.jp · ninnaji.jp · ninnaji.jp

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