Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto – Highlights & Personal photos.

2024-02-212024-08-10

Heian Shrine is famous for its bright vermilion buildings, and is especially famous for its huge vermilion torii gate. The vast garden of about 30,000 square meters that surrounds the main building is a place where visitors can enjoy the seasonal beauty of cherry blossoms, water lilies, clover, and maple trees. It is one of the places you should definitely visit when sightseeing in Kyoto.

This article will share the highlights of Heian Jingu Shrine, along with some personal photographs.

Geting to Heian Jingu Shrine from Kyoto Station

The most convenient way to reach Heian Shrine from Kyoto Station is by bus.

STEP

Board bus number 5 from A1 bus stop at Kyoto Station Bus Terminal.

The bus terminal is located right next to the central exit of Kyoto Station on the north side. Follow the “Bus” signs located throughout Kyoto Station to the bus terminal. The photo above is the bus terminal.

Look for the pillar marked A1 and the bus number is 5. Please be careful to board the correct bus.

STEP

Disembark at “Okazaki Koen Bijutsukan • Heian Jingu-mae” bus stop.

It takes approximately 30 minutes to get here from Kyoto Station. This bus stop is the last stop. Heian Jingu Shrine is conveniently located right in front of the bus stop.

Highlights of Heian Jingu Shrine

Upon entering Heian Jingu Shrine, a large varmilion torii gate greets you. This torii gate is 24 meters high and 18 meters wide, making it the largest torii gate in Japan when it was constructed in 1895. It is still a popular photo spot for visitors to Kyoto.

The entrance gate, called Otenmon, has a vivid contrast and is 18.43 meters high, making it impressive and one of the highlights of Heian Shrine. Many people was taking photos here as well.

The great appeal of Heian Shrine is that you can find buildings that are exact replicas of buildings from the Heian period about 1,000 years ago.

This is the entrance to Heian Jingu Shrine Garden, which is known as a representative Japanese garden of the Meiji period (1868-1912).

The garden within the temple grounds is vast, with a total area of approximately 33,000 square meters.

The garden is beautiful with seasonal plants such as cherry blossoms, irises, autumn leaves, and plum blossoms. Around February, plum blossoms bloom in the garden. On this day, the plum blossoms were blooming here and there.