Eikando Autumn Light-Up 2026: Dates, Fees and Tickets

Day or night: which Eikando session to choose

Eikando splits its autumn into two sessions with different tickets. The 2026 exhibition page and the temple's visiting information give these details:

Choose daytime if you want the halls and the temple treasures, or if you are travelling with students who get a reduced rate. Choose night if the lit maples are the point and you are visiting between 20 November and 6 December; it is ¥500 cheaper but covers less of the temple.

The two sessions do not overlap. The temple notices say both use an exchange system, so daytime visitors leave at closing and the night session starts again with new tickets.

Fees for students and visitors with disabilities

The temple raised its fees in 2026. Its notice for the autumn period gives the daytime exhibition prices as:

• Adults: ¥1,500 (¥1,300 each in groups of 30 or more).
• University and vocational students: ¥1,000.
• Junior and senior high students: ¥800. Group rates do not apply to students.
• Disability handbook holders: adults ¥1,000, and a companion ¥1,000; students pay ¥800 or ¥600.
• Wheelchair users: ¥1,000, with one companion at ¥500.

The night light-up is a flat ¥1,000 for everyone of junior high school age and over, including groups and handbook holders. Neither notice gives an autumn price for elementary-age children, so ask at the gate.

Tickets, queues and what may close

There is no advance sale. The visiting page says tickets are sold only on the day of the visit and are valid only for that day, so there is nothing to book online.

The temple publishes no queue times. Its September notice says operations may change depending on crowding and asks visitors to check the exhibition site before setting out. Two closures are already fixed: the Garyuro corridor and the Senbutsudo hall are closed from 11 November to 6 December, and the Tahoto pagoda may close because of crowds or bad weather.

For the night session, aim to arrive close to the 17:30 start rather than near the 20:30 last entry, so a long queue does not cost you the visit. At night, pre-written goshuin stamps (¥500) are sold at the ticket window; during the day the stamp office issues them. Our goshuin guide covers how stamps work.

On 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 28 and 29 November, a curator gives talks on the exhibition at 10:30 and 16:30, open to that day's visitors.

Rules that apply in both sessions

From the visiting information page:

• No tripods or monopods anywhere in the grounds.
• No selfie sticks inside the halls, and avoid them in crowds outdoors.
• No photographs of cultural properties inside the halls.
• No pets, eating or smoking. Visitors who have been drinking may be refused entry.
• Bring a bag for your shoes; the temple is cutting plastic bag use.

Getting to Eikando in autumn

Leave the car behind. During the exhibition period, private cars, motorcycles and tour buses cannot enter or park; the nearest public car park the temple suggests, at Okazaki Park, is about 20 minutes away on foot.

The temple's access page lists three public transport routes:

1. City Bus 5 from Kyoto Station, Keihan Sanjo or Kawaramachi to Nanzenji Eikando-michi, then 3 minutes on foot. Kyoto's tourist information centre gives the Kyoto Station boarding point as stop A1 in its autumn 2026 night-visit list.
2. Tozai subway line to Keage, then about 15 minutes on foot.
3. Keihan to Jingu-Marutamachi, City Bus 204 or 93 to Higashi-Tennocho, then about 8 minutes on foot.

If Eikando is too crowded

Chion-in, near Higashiyama Station on the same Tozai Line, runs its own autumn light-up and other late-season openings from 17 November at a lower price. For a morning alternative, Tofuku-ji's Tsutenkyo bridge opens at 8:30 in its autumn period. Our list of Kyoto's autumn night illuminations compares dates and prices across the city.