Visit Kyoto’s Private Cultural Heritage Available to the Public Only in the Fall

If you have an opportunity to visit Kyoto until 5th of December, you are the lucky person. Why? Because only during certain weeks in autumn every year, Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association opens private historical cultural heritages that you cannot visit and see in any other time of a year. In 2021, 12 private heritages in Kyoto City and Yawata City are opened to visitors with an additional admission fee of 1,000 for each location. In this issue, let’s look at 3 sites you don’t want to miss in this special chance the ancient city has to offer.

All the sites introduced below are easily accessible from Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo and Hotel Tavinos Kyoto by train or bus without any transfers.

Worship Secret Buddha in the lecture hall and savor a solemn atmosphere on Sanmon Gate at “Tofukuji Temple”

“Tofukuji Temple” (東福寺), the oldest in Kyoto and one of the largest in Japan, is a treasure trove of historical and cultural assets including many precious paintings from the Kamakura Period (1185 – 1333) and the Muromachi Period (1336 – 1573), and the books and documents brought back from Song (a dynasty in China between 960 and 1279) by Shōichi Kokushi (聖一国師, a Buddhist monk, 1202 – 1280). Each building itself is highly precious historically and is designated as an important cultural property. During the special exhibition period, you can have access to the inside of the lecture hall (法堂) and to the upper floor of Sanmon Gate (三門の楼上) which is designated as a national treasure. When in the lecture hall, make sure to look up to the impressive ceiling painting of a dragon by Insho Domoto (堂本印象, 1891 – 1976). On the upper floor of Sanmon Gate, you will definitely be fascinated by the magnificent space of the colorful flying dragons and celestial maidens by the painter monk Mincho Kitsusan (吉山明兆, 1352 – 1431) and others. The beautiful view of Kyoto from the top of the national treasure awaits.

Opening Hours	9:00AM – 4:00PM
Admission	Hojo and gardens (東福寺本坊庭園): 500 yen / Tsutenkyo Bridge and Kaisando Hall (通天橋・開山堂): 600 yen (1,000 yen during autumn season)
Address	15-778 Honmachi, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
Access	Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo: A 6-minute walk from Tofukuji Station which is 4 stations away on Keihan Line from Sanjo Station Hotel Tavinos Kyoto: A 6-minute walk from Tofukuji Station which is 2 stations away on Keihan Line from Kiyomizu-gojo Station
URL	https://kyoto.travel/en/shrine_temple/182.html

“Chourakukan” gets you to immerse yourself in the beauty of the space where Japanese and Western cultures met in the Meiji Period

“Chourakukan” (長楽館) was built as a guesthouse in 1909 by Kichibei Murai (村井吉兵衛, 1864 – 1926) known as the king of tabacco industry in the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912). Today, the building is used as a hotel and a cafe, and is designated as a tangible cultural property by the city of Kyoto in 1989. Until 5th of December,  ‘Onari-no-ma’ (御成の間, the room of Onari) and the tea ceremony room ‘Chorakuan’ (長楽庵) on the 3rd floor are being opened to the public. Onari-no-ma, a Shoin-zukuri (書院造, a style of Japanese architecture mainly used in Zen monks residence) room, decorated with Baccarat chandeliers and stained glass embodies the fusion of beauties of Japanese and Western cultures. You’ll find the beauty of Japanese taste in the Western-style building, including the tea room that is said to be identical to ‘Zangetsu-tei’ (残月亭) in Omotesenke (表千家, one of the schools of tea ceremony with a long establishment). Once having admired the beauties of the Meiji Period, how about enjoying a cup of tea in the cafe on the 1st floor?

Opening Hours	10:00AM – 4:00PM
Address	604 Maruyamacho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
Access	Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo: A 4-minute walk from Gion Bus Stop which is 2 stops away on #203 bus from Shijo Kawaramachi Bus Stop Hotel Tavinos Kyoto: A 7-minute walk from Higashiyama Yasui Bus Stop which is 5 stops away on #80 bus from Kawaramachi Gojo Bus Stop
URL	https://www.chourakukan.co.jp/

Take your bad luck away and worship a national treasure in peace at “Kamo Wake-Ikazuchi Shrine”

“Kamo Wake-Ikazuchi Jinja” (賀茂別雷神社), the part of a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site ‘Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto’, is a shrine that is familiar to many people and is well-known as Kamigamo Shrine (上賀茂神社) or Kamiyashiro (上社). The main deity enshrined as Kamo Wake-Ikazuchi no Kami (賀茂別雷命) is a God who has the power strong even enough to divide a thunder. There are 41 buildings designated as important cultural properties and 2 designated as national treasures in the precincts, and the Honden (本殿, the main shrine) and the Gonden (権殿, the associated shrine) designated as national treasures are open to the public until 5th of December. The building of ‘Hiwadabuki no Sangensha Nagarezukuri’ (檜皮葺の三間社流造, the style of shrine architecture featuring three pillars and curved roof), which was the prototype of the shrine architecture style afterward, and the painting of Komainu (狛犬, guardian dogs) that is said to be the work of Kano School (狩野派, one of the most famous schools of Japanese painting) during the Edo Period (1603 – 1868) are must-see. Why don’t you pray for good luck while worshiping the national treasure up close in a sanctuary?

Opening Hours	9:00AM – 4:00PM
Address	339 Kamigamomotoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
Access	Hotel Gracery Kyoto Sanjo: A 5-minute walk from Kamigamo Misonobashi Bus Stop which is 21 stops away on #37 bus from Kawaramachi Sanjo Bus Stop Hotel Tavinos Kyoto: A 2-minute walk from Kamigamo Jinja-mae Bus Stop which is 29 stops away on #4 bus from Kawaramachi Gojo Bus Stop
URL	https://www.kamigamojinja.jp/english//