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Ninety seconds on Kurama-dera
Kurama-dera is reached by the Eizan Electric Railway from Demachiyanagi to Kurama Station, a ride of about 30 minutes. A Kyoto Bus service bound for Kurama Onsen also stops at Kurama. From the station, the Niomon gate is a three-minute walk.
As of October 2026, the main hall is open from 9:00 to 16:15. The Reihoden museum keeps slightly shorter hours, 9:00 to 16:00. The cable car makes its first upward run at 8:40 and its last at 16:20.
No. Since April 2023 the temple has charged a mountain fee that pays for the upkeep of its paths and grounds. The Reihoden takes a separate ticket, and each cable car ride is made as a donation rather than a fare.
Yes. A short cable car climbs from Sanmon station, near the gate, towards the main hall. From its top station the hall is about ten minutes further on foot, so the ride saves most of the uphill walking.
Walkers should allow up to two hours from Kurama-dera over the ridge to Kibune, longer with stops for photographs. The route is fairly easy by hiking standards but runs over long flights of stairs. It can be walked in either direction.
For a temple visit that is also a forest walk, take the Eizan line north: the way up to the temple runs through old trees, and the trail keeps going beyond it.
Kurama-dera stands in forest on Mount Kurama, north of the city, and its main hall sits at about 410 metres. From the forecourt the view opens over wooded ridges.
In front of the hall lies the Kongo-sho, a stone floor with a triangular stone at its centre, at the heart of the temple grounds.
The temple keeps its approach as bare earth rather than paving. A shrine on the way up has a sacred cedar over 800 years old, and the Kurama Fire Festival takes place every 22 October.
The Reihoden, the temple museum, shows paintings, calligraphy and crafts. Its statue room has tatami where visitors sit facing the Buddhas, and its front garden holds Tohaku-tei, the study of the poet Yosano Akiko, moved here and rebuilt.
Higher up, the roots of old trees lie tangled and bare across the trail.
Pay the entry fee at the Niomon gate, then climb to the main hall high on the mountain. The stepped earth path from the gate takes about half an hour on foot through the trees.
After the main hall, the path leads on to the Reihoden. Behind it a small gate opens onto the Okunoin trail, steep in places, which crosses the ridge and drops into Kibune.
The trail comes down into the village of Kibune, where Kifune Shrine is the main sight.
Wear comfortable walking shoes, and carry water and insect repellent in the warmer months. Where the roots cross the path, step between them rather than on them.
In maple season the Eizan train slows through a stretch of lit maples, and it runs an autumn timetable from 9 November to 11 December 2026.
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