Temple · Higashiyama / Tofukuji

Tofuku-ji 東福寺

A vast Zen temple famous for the Tsutenkyo bridge, a covered wooden walkway above a ravine of 2,000 maples, and for Shigemori Mirei's bold checkerboard and raked-gravel gardens around the Hojo.

About

Tofuku-ji was founded in 1236 and is one of Kyoto's five great Zen temples, its name combining Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji of Nara. Its Sanmon is the oldest Zen main gate in Japan and a National Treasure, and the latrine and bathhouse are among the oldest surviving examples of their kind. The star in November is the Sengyokukan valley crossed by three bridges, of which the Tsutenkyo is the classic viewpoint over a sea of red maples. Year round, the Hojo gardens are the reason to come: designed in 1939 by Shigemori Mirei, they surround the abbot's hall on four sides, from the south garden's rocks and moss mounds to the north garden's checkerboard of moss and square stones and the east garden's Big Dipper of old pillar bases. Subtemples such as Komyo-in, with its own Shigemori garden, and Funda-in, the Sesshu garden, are quiet and worth a detour.

Highlights

• Tsutenkyo bridge over a ravine of maples
• Shigemori Mirei's modernist Hojo gardens with the moss checkerboard
• Sanmon, the oldest Zen main gate in Japan
• Komyo-in subtemple garden of rippling moss and stones
• Kaisando hall and its raised-stone garden across the valley

Tips

• In mid to late November photography on Tsutenkyo is banned to keep crowds moving; shoot from Garyo-kyo bridge instead.
• Visit the Hojo gardens outside autumn: in spring and summer you may have the checkerboard garden almost to yourself.
• Komyo-in is a 5-minute walk south and almost always quiet.
• Combine with Fushimi Inari, one stop south on the JR Nara Line.

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

Nearby

• Sennyu-ji TempleTemple · 490 m away
• Coin Lockers · Tofukuji Station (Keihan)Luggage Storage · 660 m away
• Coin Lockers · Fushimi-Inari Station (Keihan)Luggage Storage · 940 m away
• Fushimi Inari TaishaShrine · 1.0 km away
• Coin Lockers · Inari Station (JR Nara Line)Luggage Storage · 1.1 km away
• Touzan Bar (Hyatt Regency Kyoto)Bars & Nightlife · 1.3 km away
• SanjusangendoTemple · 1.3 km away
• Yogen-in TempleLocal Secret · 1.4 km away