The mountain route uses the Japanese map name for Oku-no-in Mao-den and is never a trail-safety guarantee. Follow temple notices, the guide's weather gate and the Beniya shuttle arrangement.
JAPAN 2026
FOREST
RIDGE
ROOTS
RIVER
KYOTO TO KURAMA, THEN ON FOOT
THE CEDARS OF MOUNT KURAMA
2026
DAY VIII · 9 SEPTEMBER · 鞍馬 → 貴船
A MOUNTAIN BETWEEN TWO STATIONS
Kanazawa put us back in the room at about a quarter to ten, so this one starts late on purpose. One ticket carries the subway, the Keihan hop and the whole Eizan line to Kurama, where a mountain temple founded in 770 sits above a village. From its main hall a path runs over the ridge on a floor of cedar roots and comes down the far side at Kibune — and the reward for walking it is a table laid on a platform above the river.
TŌZAI LINE; THE TICKET COVERS EVERY SUBWAY LINE IN THE CITY
III
SANJŌ → DEMACHIYANAGI
KEIHAN — AND THE ONLY KEIHAN SECTION THE TICKET COVERS
IV
DEMACHIYANAGI → KURAMA
EIZAN KURAMA LINE, THIRTY MINUTES; MAPLE TUNNEL AT ABOUT TWENTY
V
KURAMA STATION → THE NIŌ-MON
EXPECTED 09:20 TO 09:35; THE GATE IS THREE MINUTES AWAY
One ¥2,100 ticket covers all of it for a day — every subway line, Keihan between Sanjō and Demachiyanagi, and every Eizan line. It is not sold at Higashiyama, so buy it earlier in the week at a city bus and subway information centre, at a commuter-pass office, or at Kyo-Navi in the station building. Buses are not on it, and a fare-adjustment machine will not settle it.
The temple names both routes itself. Ride the cable up from the gate and come back down and you have taken the way of ease; walk from the gate over the mountain to the west gate at Kibune and you have taken the way of training. It asks you to choose by strength, condition and purpose, which is exactly the choice to make here rather than at the top. The mountain fee is ¥500 a head at the gate; the cable is a ¥200 donation each way, first car at 08:40 and every twenty minutes after.
A thousand years ago Sei Shōnagon filed the approach under things that are near and yet far — the winding path of Kurama — and the temple still quotes her on its own front page. It is about thirty minutes up from the gate on foot, or ten from the cable's upper station. Gantei founded the place in 770 after following a white horse into this valley; its teaching has since become a sect of its own, with the mountain's spirits in it. Doors open at nine and close at 16:15. The stone circle set into the terrace is the kongōshō.
Past the main hall the mountain gives up on soil: the cedars spread their roots across the surface until the path is a lattice you read with your feet. Kyoto's own guide calls this stretch a power spot. The temple counts thirty minutes from the hall to Maō-den and twenty more down to Kibune, but those are fast times — protect two and a half to three hours with stops, and clear the western gate by 12:45.
The head shrine of some two thousand water shrines across Japan, and older than the city it supplies: nobody knows when it was founded, but a record of the halls being rebuilt already exists from about thirteen hundred years ago. It is three shrines up one hillside — the main hall, then Yuinoyashiro, then the original site at Okumiya — and a proper visit takes all three. Free, never closed, and open to eight at night until the end of November.
The second sitting runs 13:30 to 15:00. The kawadoko course is ¥9,800 a head with tax in, served only at midday and only from May to September: ten dishes with salt-grilled ayu at the centre, on a platform a hand's width above the water. The shop warns the deck can run nearly ten degrees cooler than the city — carry a layer up the mountain. Rain or high water moves the meal indoors, and the shuttle down to Kibuneguchi exists only if it is asked for when booking.
The fourth of six Kyoto nights; check-in was done on Sep 6, so today needs nothing from the front desk. Eleven rooms, no breakfast served, about three minutes from Higashiyama on the Tōzai Line — which is why the day starts on foot and on one ticket. The evening is left empty on purpose after a mountain and a long meal.
¥4,200
THE DAY TRIP TICKET, PARTY ¥2,100 EACH · SUBWAY, KEIHAN, EIZAN
¥1,400
MOUNTAIN FEE AND CABLE, PARTY ¥500 EACH · ¥200 EACH IF THE CABLE IS USED
¥19,600
BENIYA KAWADOKO, PARTY ¥9,800 EACH, TAX IN — NOT YET BOOKED
¥25,200
DAY TOTAL, TWO TRAVELLERS ¥24,800 IF BOTH WALK UP · NO DINNER PLANNED
IF THE DAY SLIPS — the lunch is what the day protects. Trail unsafe but the rail running → Eizan straight to Kibuneguchi, shuttle or taxi up, indoor meal and the shrine only. Legs or heat failing at the main hall → cable back down and come round to Kibune by train. Rain or high water → the meal simply moves inside. A typhoon or a rail warning → cancel the excursion under Beniya's recorded terms and use the Kyoto recovery day; D-08 permits the swap with Sep 8 only if both rail and trail forecasts are safe.
The mountain route uses the Japanese map name for Oku-no-in Mao-den and is never a trail-safety guarantee. Follow temple notices, the guide's weather gate and the Beniya shuttle arrangement.
JAPAN 2026FORESTRIDGEROOTSRIVERKYOTO TO KURAMA, THEN ON FOOTTHE CEDARS OF MOUNT KURAMA2026
DAY VIII · 9 SEPTEMBER · 鞍馬 → 貴船
A MOUNTAIN BETWEEN TWO STATIONS
Kanazawa put us back in the room at about a quarter to ten, so this one starts late on purpose. One ticket carries the subway, the Keihan hop and the whole Eizan line to Kurama, where a mountain temple founded in 770 sits above a village. From its main hall a path runs over the ridge on a floor of cedar roots and comes down the far side at Kibune — and the reward for walking it is a table laid on a platform above the river.
TŌZAI LINE; THE TICKET COVERS EVERY SUBWAY LINE IN THE CITY
III
KEIHAN — AND THE ONLY KEIHAN SECTION THE TICKET COVERS
IV
EIZAN KURAMA LINE, THIRTY MINUTES; MAPLE TUNNEL AT ABOUT TWENTY
V
EXPECTED 09:20 TO 09:35; THE GATE IS THREE MINUTES AWAY
One ¥2,100 ticket covers all of it for a day — every subway line, Keihan between Sanjō and Demachiyanagi, and every Eizan line. It is not sold at Higashiyama, so buy it earlier in the week at a city bus and subway information centre, at a commuter-pass office, or at Kyo-Navi in the station building. Buses are not on it, and a fare-adjustment machine will not settle it.
AFTER A 21:45 RETURN叡山電車 — THE KIRARA, WINDOWS OUTWARDTHIRTY MINUTES
THE FIRST DECISION仁王門 — THE GATE ABOVE KURAMATHREE MINUTES FROM THE TRAIN
HALF PAST NINE · 仁王門
THE WAY OF EASE OR THE WAY OF TRAINING
The temple names both routes itself. Ride the cable up from the gate and come back down and you have taken the way of ease; walk from the gate over the mountain to the west gate at Kibune and you have taken the way of training. It asks you to choose by strength, condition and purpose, which is exactly the choice to make here rather than at the top. The mountain fee is ¥500 a head at the gate; the cable is a ¥200 donation each way, first car at 08:40 and every twenty minutes after.
A thousand years ago Sei Shōnagon filed the approach under things that are near and yet far — the winding path of Kurama — and the temple still quotes her on its own front page. It is about thirty minutes up from the gate on foot, or ten from the cable's upper station. Gantei founded the place in 770 after following a white horse into this valley; its teaching has since become a sect of its own, with the mountain's spirits in it. Doors open at nine and close at 16:15. The stone circle set into the terrace is the kongōshō.
FOUNDED 770金剛床 — THE CIRCLE IN THE TERRACECLOSES 16:15
SAFETY OVER SCHEDULE木の根道 — WHERE THE SOIL RAN OUT2½ TO 3 HOURS
TOWARDS NOON · 木の根道 → 魔王殿
WHERE THE ROOTS TOOK THE PATH
Past the main hall the mountain gives up on soil: the cedars spread their roots across the surface until the path is a lattice you read with your feet. Kyoto's own guide calls this stretch a power spot. The temple counts thirty minutes from the hall to Maō-den and twenty more down to Kibune, but those are fast times — protect two and a half to three hours with stops, and clear the western gate by 12:45.
The head shrine of some two thousand water shrines across Japan, and older than the city it supplies: nobody knows when it was founded, but a record of the halls being rebuilt already exists from about thirteen hundred years ago. It is three shrines up one hillside — the main hall, then Yuinoyashiro, then the original site at Okumiya — and a proper visit takes all three. Free, never closed, and open to eight at night until the end of November.
THE GOD OF WATER表参道 — THE APPROACH TO THE MAIN HALLFREE, NO CLOSING DAYS
SELECTED, NOT BOOKED川床 — A FLOOR ABOVE THE RIVERSEASON ENDS 30 SEP
HALF PAST ONE · 貴船べにや
A FLOOR LAID OVER MOVING WATER
The second sitting runs 13:30 to 15:00. The kawadoko course is ¥9,800 a head with tax in, served only at midday and only from May to September: ten dishes with salt-grilled ayu at the centre, on a platform a hand's width above the water. The shop warns the deck can run nearly ten degrees cooler than the city — carry a layer up the mountain. Rain or high water moves the meal indoors, and the shuttle down to Kibuneguchi exists only if it is asked for when booking.
The fourth of six Kyoto nights; check-in was done on Sep 6, so today needs nothing from the front desk. Eleven rooms, no breakfast served, about three minutes from Higashiyama on the Tōzai Line — which is why the day starts on foot and on one ticket. The evening is left empty on purpose after a mountain and a long meal.
¥4,200
THE DAY TRIP TICKET, PARTY ¥2,100 EACH · SUBWAY, KEIHAN, EIZAN
¥1,400
MOUNTAIN FEE AND CABLE, PARTY ¥500 EACH · ¥200 EACH IF THE CABLE IS USED
¥19,600
BENIYA KAWADOKO, PARTY ¥9,800 EACH, TAX IN — NOT YET BOOKED
¥25,200
DAY TOTAL, TWO TRAVELLERS ¥24,800 IF BOTH WALK UP · NO DINNER PLANNED
IF THE DAY SLIPS — the lunch is what the day protects. Trail unsafe but the rail running → Eizan straight to Kibuneguchi, shuttle or taxi up, indoor meal and the shrine only. Legs or heat failing at the main hall → cable back down and come round to Kibune by train. Rain or high water → the meal simply moves inside. A typhoon or a rail warning → cancel the excursion under Beniya's recorded terms and use the Kyoto recovery day; D-08 permits the swap with Sep 8 only if both rail and trail forecasts are safe.
