Heian Shrine

Heian Shrine is young by Kyoto standards but makes an unforgettable impression. It was built in 1895 to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of Heian-kyo, the city that became Kyoto, at a time when the capital had moved to Tokyo and Kyoto was searching for a new identity. The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Kammu, who founded the city in 794, and Emperor Komei, the last emperor to reign entirely from Kyoto. Its buildings partly reproduce, at reduced scale, the state halls of the original Heian palace: you enter through the two-story, vermilion-lacquered Otenmon gate into a huge courtyard of white gravel, facing the Daigoku-den hall, its green-tiled roof and red columns flanked by corridors and towers. The effect is bold and theatrical, a rare chance to imagine the color and scale of the ancient court. On the approach road, a giant vermilion torii, one of the largest in Japan, towers over the Okazaki area and its museums. Behind the main buildings lies the shrine's real treasure, the Shin-en garden, a sequence of Meiji-era stroll gardens wrapping around the halls on three sides. Designed by the master landscape gardener Ogawa Jihei VII, it is a garden of seasons: weeping cherries in early April, made famous in Tanizaki's novel The Makioka Sisters, irises and water lilies in June, maples in autumn. Highlights include a path of round stepping stones across a pond, recycled from old bridge pillars, and the covered Taiheikaku bridge-pavilion. The shrine grounds are free; the garden charges a modest fee. The Jidai Matsuri, the Festival of the Ages, processes here every October 22.

Visiting well. The main courtyard takes ten minutes to admire, but allow at least forty-five minutes for the garden, which most visitors underestimate. Walk the full circuit: the south garden's weeping cherries, the west garden's iris pond, the stepping stones across the middle pond, and the east garden's large lake, viewed from the Taiheikaku bridge with the Higashiyama hills borrowed as a backdrop. In cherry season, the weeping cherries over the pond are among the most beautiful in Kyoto; in June, the irises are spectacular and the crowds lighter. The shrine is under a long-term, staged restoration program running into the next decade, so some buildings may be wrapped in scaffolding, but the shrine and garden remain open.

Festivals and weddings. The Jidai Matsuri on October 22 is a grand costume parade through central Kyoto, with participants dressed in the clothing of each era of Kyoto's history, ending at Heian Shrine. The shrine is also a popular wedding venue, and on weekends you may glimpse a Shinto wedding procession crossing the courtyard; watch respectfully from a distance. On some summer and autumn evenings, special events and concerts are held in the garden, so check ahead.

The Okazaki neighborhood. Heian Shrine anchors Okazaki, Kyoto's cultural district, laid out around the Lake Biwa Canal. Within a few minutes' walk are the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and the Hosomi Museum, plus Okazaki Park, which hosts regular events and markets. Canal boat rides run in spring and autumn, and Nanzen-ji is a ten-minute walk to the southeast. Higashiyama Station on the Tozai subway line is about ten minutes' walk away, and several city buses stop near the shrine. Allow one to two hours for the shrine, garden and a coffee in Okazaki. Families will find the courtyard ideal for letting children stretch their legs, and the garden's turtles and koi are reliable entertainment. Photographers should aim for the giant torii from the canal bridge on the approach road, where it rises above the trees. Food is easy to find in Okazaki, with cafes in and around the museums.