Is exclusive Saiho-ji in Kyoto (Koke-dera) worth visiting?

Kyoto is busy, Kyoto is full, Kyoto suffers from overtourism. In the light of this, many visitors seek out more exclusive experiences, and visiting Saiho-ji in Kyoto, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed “Moss Temple” is one of them.

Visits to Saiho-ji in Kyoto are strictly by appointment and cost up to ten times as much as visiting some other Kyoto’s famous temples. I visited Saiho-ji in July 2024 and this is my experience and unbiased opinion on whether Saiho-ji in Kyoto is worth spending time and money on.

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Why is Saiho-ji in Kyoto special?

Saiho-ji is a Buddhist temple of the … in a semirural location on the edge of Kyoto. It was founded in 731 CE, but was destroyed and then neglected. Only in the 14th Century was the temple restored and dedicated to Rinzai Zen Buddhism.

The master responsible for the rebuild was Muso Kukoshi who was not just a Zen priest, but a master gardener as well. Some say that the zen garden served as a blueprint for the Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji gardens.

Over the centuries, the temple sadly suffered extensive damage from fires and flooding, and the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) and its anti-Buddhist policies left to the temple’s further decline. More as a measure to keep the garden alive, it was planted with different moss species during that trying period, and opened to the public in the 1920s. The Main Hall is a very young building, for example, having been rebuilt only in the 1960s.

Saiho-hi in Kyoto is mostly famous for today is its “young”, barely 100-year old moss garden. However, its dry landscape in its upper garden is said to be the oldest in Japan and served as a model for many more famous Kyoto gardens, but unfortunately the dry garden is closed to the public. For both these unique gardens, Saiho-ji became UNESCO WOrld Heritage in 1994 together with 16 other temples, shrines and and Nijo-jo Castle.

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My visit to Saiho-ji in Kyoto

Booking a ticket these days is extremely easy.

Just visit the website of Saiho-ji and book a day and time slot you wish to visit. It is slightly faffy, as you need to create an account, but a secure glitch-free web site in English.

It is mandatory to book your visit in advance, and availability depends on how busy the temple gets. They only allow groups of 20-30 people in at one time. I booked about six weeks in advance for July. At the time of writing this post, you could get tickets by booking a week ahead, and three months is the maximum you can book ahead.

I booked a standard entry to Saiho-ji in Kyoto which, at the time of my visit, cost 4000JPY (25 Euro).

You get decent availability, it’s not like rushing to book for Ghibli Museum. 

My recommendation is to book the earliest time slot, as you should get good light except in high summer when the sun start blazing already at 7am. And once you are in, you can basically stay until closing time, no one will chase you out of the garden.

On the morning of my visit, I strolled up to one of the side gates, the Shumio-do, at the allotted time, to be checked in and welcomed by a member of staff. Entry is by QR Code and ID. Then we were directed to the Main Hall, where little desks were set up and we were invited to trace a sutra to “calm the mind”.

Now this isn’t the difficult exercise sitting on the floor that some reports made it out to be. You have plenty of time to visit the bathroom, put your things in a locker, then you are invited to a row of tables outside the main hall and given a sutra and brush pen. I was a bit worried about sitting on the floor, something I haven’t really been able to to, but there were plenty of chairs, too. The sutra is faintly pre-printed, and all you have to do is trace it at your own pace. No need to be an artist or calligrapher. Just be quiet, reflect, trace. You can then take it with you or leave it at the temple.

After a bit of sutra practice, we were free to enter the temple gardens. The temple hall itself is relatively modern, from the 1960’s and most of it is off limits to visitors.

The famous moss gardens of Saiho-ji in Kyoto will take most of the attention from visitors. They are visited on a circular course, and due to the limitation in visitor numbers, never feel crowded. The rainy season around June shows off these gardens and their densest and greenest, so I wasn’t far off in July, but it was already unbearably hot and very sunny – plenty sun protection is highly advisable.

You are not to veer off the path, naturally, but you have plenty of places to stop, rest and take photographs. There weren’t loads of benches or places to sit other than near the Main Hall, so they may have an interest in people not hanging around too long, but no one will stop you from taking a rest and then going into the moss gardens again.

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Saiho-ji Layout and Features

The gardens of Saiho-ji are laid around a large pond calle Ougon-ike, with some larger and some smaller islands that cannot be entered.

When you enter, you pass the Kannon Hall to your left and enter the moss gardens at the top.

As you enter the moss gardens, follow the sign and circulate in an anticlockwise manner. The first you see is an overview of the gardens and the pond.

You will pass two older structures, Shonan-tei and Tsukimi-dai.

Shonan-tei is a tea house built during the Momoyama period of Shogunate Japan, a time of bloody upheaval and civil war (1568-1600). It is said to have been built by the son of Buddhist Monk and original tea master Sen no Rikyu.

Tsukimi-dai is a small moon viewing pavilion that is part of Shonan-tei tea house. 

As you move around the pond, you will get different views of the islands, which were once covered in sand but have now been planted with moss and trees.

You will also pass the  main gate to Saiho-ji. This has not been used since the 1970’s, when Saiho-ji was one of the most visited temples in Kyoto. As a result, the temple administration decided to limit visitor numbers in 1977 in order to preserve the gardens in their peaceful quiet atmosphere and maintain the moss.

In most parts of the garden, despite being asked to stick to the paths, you can get very close to the moss. Saiho-ji has about 120 varieties of moss – pretty indistinguishable to the uninitiated but rarely do you find this many varieties of moss in one place!

A little further along the pond you find another tea house called Tanhokutei – its latest incarnation is from the 1920s.

As you move on, you pass the oldest part of the gardens, and possibly the oldest dry landscape gardens in Japan, the Eiko-seki designed by Muso Kukoshi during the Shogunate rule now over 700 years ago. They are closed to the public, so you can only catch a glimpse of it.

You will come out at the Kannon-do, an older prayer hall with an enshrines kannon Statue that served at the temples main hall until today’s main hall was rebuilt in the 1960’s.

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Other Places to visit near Saiho-ji

I had an hour before my time slot, so I walked up to the lovely Jizo-in Temple (地蔵院). It is also called Take-no dera or, in plain English, “Bamboo Temple”. You want a crowd-free bamboo grove? Come here. Bamboo galore in this area. The temple grounds are very green, forested and incredibly charming. It’s a quaint Rinzai Sect Zen Temple, same sect as Saiho-ji, Nanzen-ji, Tenryu-ji, Tofuku-ji, Kennin-ji and some other venerated Kyoto temples.

Another relatively well-known temple very close to Saiho-ji is Kegon-ji (華厳寺), also called Suzumusihi-dera, and quite famous in Japan for its bellcrickets that are bred at the temple year round and its auspicious jizo statue. I wasn’t sure how to feel about thousands of crickets in captivity, so I didn’t visit this one.

The nearby Katsura Villa probably would have appealed to me more. As part of the Imperial buildings, you cannot enter the villa but the Japanese gardens and teahouses surrounding it are superb and one of the best strolling gardens. Apparently, a lot of modernist architects drew inspiration from it.

And last not least, you will pass Arashiyama with its famous Bamboo Grove and Tenryu-ji the the bus ride back, so that is very easy to combine with a trip to Saiho-ji. It just gets incredibly busy, and seeing masses of people didn’t entice me out of the air-conditioned bus on that very hot July day.

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Practicalities

Here are some practical tips for your visit to Saiho-ji.

Where to Stay

My advice is to stay somewhere in central Kyoto. Arashiyama is mostly rammed with tourists, central Kyoto, well… it spreads out a bit more, and you get all range of accommodations. If you have the budget, a lovely traditional ryokan or luxurious hotel in Higashiyama makes a lovely base for your stay in Kyoto, if you are on a moderate budget, like me, I will give you some recommendations on places I have stayed myself and which I can highly recommend.

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Tabist Kiki Hotel Sanjo Takakura

This Tabist Kiki Hotel is a small and very smart four-star hotel at the back of ShinPuhKan. I paid 83 Euro for one night in a reduced price room as there was a window but very little daylight. Other than that, the room was great – large, with a full size bath, two immensely comfortable twin beds and a tatami-covered sitting area with nice accents form Kyoto design house Sou-Sou.

Prince Smart Inn Kyoto

The Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo is a very smart moderate budget option. Not only did this hotel have bicycle parking, but I liked the location even better – a stone’s throw from the northern end of Teramachi Shopping street with some of my favourite Kyoto shops, Kyukyodo, Misuyabari Sewing Needles, Musubi… and cult cafe Smart Coffee. The surrounding area was a great mix of small restaurants, upmarket apparel shops and art supplies and paper stores. 

The hotel is bright and modern, rooms rather spartan but large enough, with ultra comfortable beds and the only thing I really missed was a kettle for my morning coffee and my green tea. I paid 163 Euros for three nights including a relatively sparse breakfast.

Hotel Resol Kyoto Kawaramachi

Of all the Hotel Resol locations in Kyoto, Hotel Resol Kawaramachi is right opposite Mina Shopping Mall in a downtown area full of hotel and shops. It is a rather small hotel in Japanese style but with Western beds – and bicycle hire! Expect to pay 60-120 Euro per person per night depending on room type.

Kiraku Inn

This charming little guesthouse is in Northern Gion, but I am adding it anyway, as it is an excellent comfortable and clean private room budget option.

I stayed at Kiraku Inn Kyoto on a previous trip. It’s a very simple accommodation in a historic Kyoto Machiya. I had a private room, bathrooms were shared. I liked it, my room had everything it needed, it was quiet (except for the crows at 4am, thank you) and clean. I paid under 100 Euro for three night sin a clean private room with access to a small kitchen in a super central location – and I could also park my bicycle there thanks to the very accommodating owner.

It is worth noting the true lord or the mansion is Tama, a huge tomcat, who is allowed everything and everywhere, so if you have a problem with cats or a severe allergy, it might not be for you.

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How to get to Saiho-ji

Saiho-ji is an easy one-bus ride on the Route 63 from all hotel locations. Get on at City Hall or Saikaimachi Oike (or Sanjo Keihan-mae if travelling fro mKiraku Inn) and be dropped off 200metres from the gate after about 40 minutes. Saiho-ji is the final stop. Other buses or Hankyu trains go there as well, but usually it’s a bit of a walk from the bus or train station.

If you are staying near Kyoto Station, Route 73 will take you directly to Saiho-ji in an hour.

When you return, buses are usually waiting to take you back into the centre, and if you wish, you can get off in Arashiyama after crossing the charming Togetsu Bridge.

You could also cycle there. It is about 10km on some busy and not terribly scenic roads, the entire route is quite urban but relatively flat. Oike-dori has a very decent wise cycle path, other big roads have cycle paths but their quality varies a lot. I am all for cycling, especially cycling in Kyoto, but the day I visited had a roasting 35C and even a short cycle ride was like wheeling around in an oven, not to mention the relentless sun exposure, so I took the bus.

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So, is Saiho-ji in Kyoto worth visiting?

Now you may wonder, why pay a relatively high fee of 4000JPY and travel well out of the centre of Kyoto when Kyoto is full of attractions?

Firstly, let me say Saiho-ji in Kyoto is unique for its moss garden – it really is quite something, and if you love moss, then it’s almost a must-visit. It is so tranquil and breathtakingly beautiful.

Due to their visitor policy, they only allow very limited numbers of visitors, and although you usually see people on the path, it can feel like you have the gardens almost to yourself. I have seen plenty of dry gardens in Kyoto, so seeing the oldest one was a small deal, but the moss garden really is otherworldly.

The administration of Saiho-ji in Kyoto was taking measures to protect their property and beautiful garden before overtourism was even discussed, well over 40 years ago, and they appear to be one of a few in Kyoto that promote more a more thoughtful, sustainable tourism – you pay a high fee but you are invited to make a day out of it, enter the gardens calm, relaxed, think and appreciate the temple. No one is rushing you through. The high fee helps towards the maintenance of the garden and temple, and honestly, someone who can afford plane fare and hotels in Kyoto can probably afford a ticket for Saiho-ji.

This gives you a fairly select clientele, usually people who really appreciate the garden and travel a bit slower. Plenty of people, including myself, went a bit gaga with the photographs, but people move around respectfully, give you space and don’t hog scenic points. But no influencer shootings here, as tripods, gimbals and other influencer gear are forbidden.

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The Small Print

I visited Kansai solo in July 2024, paying for all expenses myself. So what you get here is my totally unbiased opinion, no freebies, no discounts for good reviews. My only monetisation of this blog at the time of publication is affiliate links to Booking.com, which is my preferred (and only) hotel booking site when I am not booking directly. If you use one of the links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, but trust me, this blog is 99% a hobby, meaning I work a regular job and all my travel money comes from working full time.

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