Torin-in (Myoshin-ji)
This season's opening
Torin-in Candle Night (Bonto no Akari)
- Hours
- 18:00–20:30 (last entry 20:00); cancelled in rain. JR Central's Souda Kyoto site lists 18:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30), so hours differ between sources.
- Admission
- ¥800 entry; tea ¥600 with a sweet
- Booking
- No booking
The normally closed temple garden, lit only by the head priest's clay-tile lanterns and about 800 candles.
Cancelled in rain; check the forecast. No website; call 075-463-1334. For dinner afterwards, Taketori near Hanazono Station (closed Wednesdays, i.e. Nov 4).
Torin-in New Year Azuki Porridge Lunch
- Hours
- 11:00–15:00 (2026). On the 15th a porridge ceremony starts at 10:00.
- Admission
- ¥4,000 in 2026 (plum tea, porridge and temple meal, a talisman and a small gift)
- Booking
- No bookingNo booking in 2026
The normally closed temple serves New Year azuki porridge as a temple meal, eaten facing its garden of red-berried senryo and manryo.
No temple website; confirm 2027 dates and price on the city tourism site from December.
About the garden
A Myoshin-ji sub-temple known for its temple cooking and its sal trees. It opens only for seasonal events. In autumn the garden is lit by nothing but bonto, clay-tile lanterns made by the head priest, and about 800 candles; in January it serves azuki porridge.
Where to stand
Sit on the veranda and compare the arrangement of tile lanterns and candles from the end and from the middle. Each year the event takes a Zen phrase as its theme; find out this year's words, then read the arrangement together with them in mind. A dozen or so sal trees stand in the front garden; at the January porridge lunch you eat facing the garden of senryo and manryo berry shrubs.
Practical notes
Normally closed. The candle night runs Oct 30–Nov 8, 2026 (18:00–20:30, last entry 20:00; ¥800, tea ¥600) and is cancelled in rain. The temple has no website; call 075-463-1334 with questions. JR Hanazono Station is about 8 minutes away.
Tea and food nearby
Small places within walking distance. Check their opening days against the garden's.
- ☾ Open after the evening viewing7 min walk🍽 FoodTaketori (free-range chicken izakaya)
Free-range chicken from the owners' own farm, served in a row house over 100 years old. Food orders run until 22:00, well after the candle night ends.
Order：Same-morning chicken sashimi or seared tataki
- 4 min walk🍽 FoodHanagokoro (Kyoto cuisine, Hanazono Kaikan)
The restaurant in Myoshin-ji's own Hanazono Kaikan. For the Daiho-in opening it sells a lunch-and-entry package: a basket lunch with simmered tofu, then the tea garden.
Order：The Daiho-in entry-and-lunch package (¥5,500, book ahead)
11:00–15:00 (LO 14:30), 17:00–21:00 (LO 20:00)Closed: No regular closing day (open daily)¥5,500 lunch packageDetails ↗ - 8 min walk☕ CafeKissago Toan (coffee house)
A relaxed coffee house in the residential streets near JR Hanazono Station; a break between Myoshin-ji sub-temples, away from the tour groups.
Order：Chiffon cake with a drink