Kenninji Temple

This is an awesome Buddhist temple to visit and just sit. The zen garden is very peaceful and the spaces are meditative. The red shoes you have to wear to see the twin dragons are small. If you are any taller than 1m70 then be prepared to feel weird. Just soak it up as an “experience” 😝 I do recommend you go to the toilet here too. If you have never walked to the loo with bells on your shoes then brace yourselves for the ride. The old guards wandering around will tell you off if you don’t stick to the rules but they are polite and quite chill for the stickler type.

Incredible temple complex in the heart of Kyoto. They run a special, limited time event called Zen Night Walk Kyoto in the temple which is a most-go if you’re in town. The entire Temple is lighten with beautiful video art effects, sounds and more. Really special setting, highly recommend!

Very nice temple! One of the few we visited where you walk on the wooden floor or tatami mats. There are some nice gardens inside but the main attraction is the big dragon painting on the roof of one of the buildings! It's a bit expensive at 800 yen to enter but really worth it in my opinion!

While exploring the Gion district, I came across this temple, reportedly the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto, dating back to around 1200. A stroll around the public grounds is sufficient to enjoy and beat the summer heat. For more gardens and artworks, you may enter the main hall (with a fee).

Kennin-ji Temple (建仁寺), located in Kyoto, Japan, is one of the most historically significant Zen Buddhist temples in the country and the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto! It is associated with the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Founded in 1202 by the priest Eisai, who is also credited with introducing both Zen Buddhism and green tea to Japan after studying in China. The temple’s architecture and gardens are classic examples of Zen aesthetics, featuring simplicity, natural materials, and carefully designed spaces that promote meditation and mindfulness. A must see feature is the Twin Dragons (painted by prominent Japanese painter Koizunni Junsaku) ceiling painting. Drawn with the finest quality ink on traditional Japanese paper. It was painted in the gymnasium of a Hokkaido elementary school and took the artist just under two years to complete. Highly recommend this peaceful retreat in the bustling Gion District !

We went to the zen night walk on a weekday and had to wait for over an hour in a line that was not moving. After letting a few people in, the man at the counter just left for half an hour. Nobody let us know how long it would still take even though people were leaving the line due to the heat. Once inside there there were more lines for a few of the rooms and it was overcrowded. There were 3 rooms lit up but it wasn't worth 2200 yen. I would recommend going during the daytime for 800 yen, as this place is very beautiful and so you can admire the building. I would not recommend the nightwalk at all.

Kenninji Temple is a serene escape in Kyoto. The tranquil gardens and stunning twin dragon ceiling make it a peaceful and beautiful place to visit. It’s less crowded than other temples, offering a quiet space for reflection. Highly recommended!

What a cool temple! We had stumbled across it when it was closed as it was very close to our hotel, and decided to come back later when it was open. Such a huge complex that you get to walk around in and explore - it felt like something out of a movie or anime. All of the old painted walls were so cool to see, and I loved getting the chance to see a proper Zen garden in person. the dragon ceiling is also very cool (although much more modern than the temple itself)

This is an awesome Buddhist temple to visit and just sit. The zen garden is very peaceful and the spaces are meditative. The red shoes you have to wear to see the twin dragons are small. If you are any taller than 1m70 then be prepared to feel weird. Just soak it up as an “experience” 😝 I do recommend you go to the toilet here too. If you have never walked to the loo with bells on your shoes then brace yourselves for the ride. The old guards wandering around will tell you off if you don’t stick to the rules but they are polite and quite chill for the stickler type.

Incredible temple complex in the heart of Kyoto. They run a special, limited time event called Zen Night Walk Kyoto in the temple which is a most-go if you’re in town. The entire Temple is lighten with beautiful video art effects, sounds and more. Really special setting, highly recommend!

Very nice temple! One of the few we visited where you walk on the wooden floor or tatami mats. There are some nice gardens inside but the main attraction is the big dragon painting on the roof of one of the buildings! It's a bit expensive at 800 yen to enter but really worth it in my opinion!

While exploring the Gion district, I came across this temple, reportedly the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto, dating back to around 1200. A stroll around the public grounds is sufficient to enjoy and beat the summer heat. For more gardens and artworks, you may enter the main hall (with a fee).

Kennin-ji Temple (建仁寺), located in Kyoto, Japan, is one of the most historically significant Zen Buddhist temples in the country and the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto! It is associated with the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Founded in 1202 by the priest Eisai, who is also credited with introducing both Zen Buddhism and green tea to Japan after studying in China. The temple’s architecture and gardens are classic examples of Zen aesthetics, featuring simplicity, natural materials, and carefully designed spaces that promote meditation and mindfulness. A must see feature is the Twin Dragons (painted by prominent Japanese painter Koizunni Junsaku) ceiling painting. Drawn with the finest quality ink on traditional Japanese paper. It was painted in the gymnasium of a Hokkaido elementary school and took the artist just under two years to complete. Highly recommend this peaceful retreat in the bustling Gion District !

We went to the zen night walk on a weekday and had to wait for over an hour in a line that was not moving. After letting a few people in, the man at the counter just left for half an hour. Nobody let us know how long it would still take even though people were leaving the line due to the heat. Once inside there there were more lines for a few of the rooms and it was overcrowded. There were 3 rooms lit up but it wasn't worth 2200 yen. I would recommend going during the daytime for 800 yen, as this place is very beautiful and so you can admire the building. I would not recommend the nightwalk at all.

Kenninji Temple is a serene escape in Kyoto. The tranquil gardens and stunning twin dragon ceiling make it a peaceful and beautiful place to visit. It’s less crowded than other temples, offering a quiet space for reflection. Highly recommended!

What a cool temple! We had stumbled across it when it was closed as it was very close to our hotel, and decided to come back later when it was open. Such a huge complex that you get to walk around in and explore - it felt like something out of a movie or anime. All of the old painted walls were so cool to see, and I loved getting the chance to see a proper Zen garden in person. the dragon ceiling is also very cool (although much more modern than the temple itself)

There are so many temples in Japan. One of them is Kennin-ji Temple located in Kyoto. The most beautiful part of this temple is what's inside. There are many beautiful artwork. Other than that, the outside is very well maintained and is very beautiful as well. The outside is very beautiful. yes it is very big as well. I got lots of great pictures.

"" The Zen Gardens are Gorgeous "" Kennin-ji is a historic Zen Buddhist temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto, Japan, near Gion, at the end of Hanami Lane. Our guide knew all the right spots and vantage points for us to experience the best, and most serene view. The interior ceiling of the temple itself was adorned with a beautiful painting of dragons, a recent commemorative addition in 2002.This is a terrific place to take pictures as it is much less crowded than some other Temples. It's a Good place to stroll around and soak up all the history and views of a very old Buddhist temple. The Zen gardens are very beautiful.

There is so many temples in Kyoto it was overwhelming to narrow it down and pick one or two. My gf wanted to come here for their dragon art and I'm glad we did. It's free to get in but some area, like the whole art section, was a fee. As you enter the whole premise you walk down, and on the right side you keep walking to a small door entrance and that is where the dragon art is, as well as other arts. You take off your shoes. There are so many arts to look at, drawings, wall art, culture, it was a nice breath of fresh air. As you walk in this whole area there is also zen gardens. You can't go in them, just to look at. Each section of the room has different arts. As you walk towards the back there is a whole garden like area, very peaceful and full of trees. There is shoes for you to put on as you walk to the back. In there you will also see an open room for a small traditional tea time. You have to pay but it was pretty cheap. You get tradtional green tea, which was foamy and aromatic, and a sweet treat that had red bean. It was a nice little snack to have. As you finish you can walk around the small garden area and take you step back up, take the shoes off and go to another area where again, you wear another slipper and walk towards the outside to a grand room. I was not expecting this but it was some temple of a goddess or protector I think, When you look a the ceiling there is a huge wall art that is covered with twin dragon art. It's hard to explain but so grand when you look at it. I believe it was all hand drawn. There are many areas to observe, this is just one part of the temple. Everything seemed so peaceful and had a great positive aura. Even though you can't go in the zen gardens, just looking at them felt like a sense of stress is off your shoulder. As we stepped out and put our shoes back on, we looked around at other areas. Most just trees and a few things to look at here and there. I don't think we found much because we did not know where we were going and for the most part we came mainly for the dragon art. I would recommend checking this place out if you are in Kyoto. They are also near a restaurant that has a popular chicken bowl in hot stone pot for lunch (Wabiya).

A convenient temple to visit if you are in Gion. It has big grounds, and we visited at the end of the day so were a bit tired of walking, so we didn't see everything on the property, but this is another fine example of the classic architecture of Kyoto's temples.

When I headed for this temple, traffic was a little heavy on the narrow street leading to the temple. I walked on the road carefully lest I should be run down by car (in my youth I had an experience of being hit by car). The ground of the temple was spacious and I saw many sightseers taking some pictures of main halls and surrounding scenery. They seemed to come here to see a famous image of the wind and thunder gods drawn by Sotatsu Tawaraya in the Edo period (it appears in history text books) and painting of twin dragons on the ceiling. Both of two were overwhelming!! Their glaring eyes are so scary!! It is worth seeing, if you once see it, you will make an oath that you will never do a wrong thing. In front of the abbots' chamber vast dry landscape garden spread in front of me. If I stayed alone without talking for a long time, I might reach a stage where I am free of all thoughts and desires.