Shozan Resort Kyoto Japanese Garden
This season's opening
Shozan Garden Autumn Illumination
- Hours
- 17:30–20:00 (last entry 19:30)
- Admission
- ¥800 entry
- Booking
- No booking
The Shozan garden, normally a daytime garden, opens after dark for the maple season, with the stroll path along the Kamiya stream lit up.
Wakadori, the chicken restaurant inside the resort, is open until 22:00 (last order 21:30), so you can eat without leaving the grounds. The resort's own notice is image-only; dates were confirmed on the city tourism site.
About the garden
A Japanese garden inside a resort built after the war by a Nishijin textile maker. It runs along the Kamiya stream: a stroll garden of Kitayama cedars, large Kishu boulders and moss. Because the site is mainly a wedding and restaurant venue, tourists rarely find it, and you can walk the whole garden without passing anyone.
Where to stand
From the Hogyoku-tei building, turn your back on it and face the valley. Kitayama daisugi cedars are trained to send up several trunks from one stock, so they read more like huge bonsai than trees. Follow the Kamiya stream downhill; in summer the riverside dining platforms stand right over the water.
Practical notes
Not a temple: a private resort with a public garden, paid at the entrance. Bus to Dotenjicho, or a 10-minute walk from Genko-an. The restaurants on site (kaiseki at Kamiyagawa; riverside dining May to mid-October) need a booking by the day before. Rarely any queue.
Tea and food nearby
Small places within walking distance. Check their opening days against the garden's.
- ☾ Open after the evening viewing2 min walk🍽 FoodWakadori (chicken restaurant, inside Shozan)
Yakitori and set meals in a relocated Meiji-era timber merchant's house inside the resort; dinner without leaving the grounds after the lit garden.
Order：The yakitori
11:30–14:30 (LO 14:00), 17:00–22:00 (LO 21:30)Closed: Mondays and Thursdays (moved to the next day when a holiday); extra closures are shown on the official closing calendarDetails ↗ - 13 min walk🍽 FoodKoetsu Chaya (soba and sweets)
Soba and Japanese sweets in a folk-craft style house near Koetsu-ji, with roomy seating. It opens on its usual Tuesday closing day throughout November.