Kodai-ji and Entoku-in in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward will hold their 2026 autumn night special viewing from Friday, October 23, to Sunday, December 13. The gardens will be lit from sunset, and this year's program adds a new projection mapping show, "KODAI-JI - Momoyama Ryoran -," on the Hashin-tei garden at Kodai-ji.
Kodai-ji is a temple of the Kennin-ji school of the Rinzai sect in Kyoto's Higashiyama area. It was founded in 1606 by Kita no Mandokoro Nene, the principal wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, to pray for the repose of her husband. With gardens and buildings that carry on the Momoyama culture, it is one of Kyoto's representative temples, where the changing seasons can be enjoyed.
Night Lighting of the Temple Grounds
The lighting of Kodai-ji Garden, a designated Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty, takes its cue from Hideyoshi's death poem, "a dream within a dream" (yume no mata yume). A warm level of illumination creates a profound, otherworldly atmosphere.
Elsewhere in the grounds, the lighting picks out the water-mirror beauty of Garyu Pond and the autumn leaves around it, as well as the bamboo grove and the pines around Engetsu Pond, creating a dreamlike effect within the natural setting. The interiors of the Kaizando Hall, Kangetsu-dai, and the Otamaya mausoleum are lit as if to express the feelings of Hideyoshi and Nene. In the lawn garden, the hill shaped like a crane's back and the stonework placed here and there are each highlighted, in a design meant to evoke Kodai-ji maki-e (gold lacquer decoration).
New Projection Mapping "KODAI-JI - Momoyama Ryoran -"
A new projection mapping show will be staged this autumn at Hashin-tei, the garden of Kodai-ji in Kyoto. It portrays the splendor and prayers of the Momoyama period, rising in dreamlike light.
Note: The image is from the production stage and may differ from the actual display.
Stars twinkle and golden clouds drift quietly by. Beyond them spreads a glittering, maki-e-like world in which colorful flowers and plants are drawn on the surface of the water. Rippling water patterns and flowing flower rafts create a fantastical scene of light and imagery that adorns the autumn night garden.
Note: The image is from the production stage and may differ from the actual display.
The story centers on the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his wife, Kita no Mandokoro Nene. It follows the magnificent glory Hideyoshi attained and the world of peace Nene pictured in her heart. Gorgeous, ornate designs appear and vanish like a kaleidoscope and then fade as if in a dream, reflecting the fleeting nature of glory and the impermanence of the human world.
Flowers then fall softly. In the moonlit garden, flowers bloom again, and misty clouds and elegant music gently envelop every feeling of this world.
History, nature, and people's prayers come together. Through light, sound, and water, the splendor of Momoyama culture and the sense of impermanence that the Japanese have long cherished are woven into a single story. Visitors can experience this fantastical world, available only here this autumn.
Event Details
- Autumn night special viewing: Friday, October 23, to Sunday, December 13, 2026
- Hours: 5:00 PM (lighting begins at sunset) to 9:30 PM (last admission). The gate closes at 10:00 PM.
- Admission:
- Kodai-ji: ¥800 (adults), ¥400 (junior high and high school students), free for elementary school students and younger
- Entoku-in: ¥500 (adults), ¥200 (junior high and high school students), free for elementary school students and younger
- Combined discount ticket for three sites (Kodai-ji, Entoku-in, and the museum 掌美術館): ¥1,200
- Location:
- Kodai-ji: 526 Kodaiji Shimokawaracho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
- Entoku-in: 530 Kodaiji Shimokawaracho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
