Temple · Omuro / Ukyo

Ninna-ji 仁和寺

A former imperial residence-temple with a palace-like Goten complex, a five-storey pagoda and Kyoto's latest-blooming cherries, the low, bushy Omuro-zakura.

About

Ninna-ji was founded in 888 by Emperor Uda, who lived here after abdicating, and it was headed by imperial princes for nearly a thousand years. The Goten, rebuilt in the early 20th century in the style of an imperial palace, is a series of elegant halls linked by covered corridors around raked white sand and a pond garden with views of the pagoda. The Kondo main hall was transplanted from the Imperial Palace's Shishinden in the 1640s and is a National Treasure, and the 36 m five-storey pagoda of 1644 rises over the precinct. Ninna-ji is famed for its Omuro cherry trees, a grove of about 200 dwarf trees only 2-3 m tall that bloom in mid-April, a week after most of the city, so the blossoms are almost at face height. The grounds are free outside the cherry season. The Ninna-ji subtemple Omuro Kaikan offers temple lodging.

Highlights

• Goten palace halls and their pond garden
• Five-storey pagoda of 1644
• Kondo hall, originally the Imperial Palace Shishinden
• Omuro-zakura dwarf cherries blooming in mid-April
• Niomon gate, one of Kyoto's three great gates

Tips

• The Omuro cherries are the last major bloom in the city, so it is a lifesaver if you arrive after the peak.
• The grounds are free most of the year; a fee applies during the cherry season.
• Walk 10 minutes to Ryoan-ji and 20 minutes to Kinkaku-ji along Kinukake-no-michi.
• The Randen Omuro-Ninnaji Station faces the Niomon gate.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Ryoan-jiTemple · 540 m away
• Toji-in TempleLocal Secret · 830 m away
• Zazen Meditation at Shunko-inActivities & Experiences · 970 m away
• Myoshin-ji and Taizo-inTemple · 1.2 km away
• Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)Temple · 1.7 km away
• Uzumasa Kyoto Village (Toei Kyoto Studio Park)Theme Park · 1.7 km away
• Kitano TenmanguShrine · 1.9 km away
• Tenjin-san Flea Market (Kitano)Market · 2.0 km away