To-ji Temple

Before you go

• The pagoda is normally closed inside: you can see it from the free grounds, but its first floor opens only during special viewings (New Year, winter, spring and autumn), in 2026 from January 1 to March 18, April 25 to May 25 and October 31 to December 13 (the autumn opening 8:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30, open every day), and photography is banned inside. A fifth-grader who visited during a special opening had expected to climb to the top and was disappointed, so plan on the first floor only.
• The grounds, and the Miedo (the hall where the monk Kobo Daishi lived) and the Jikido (dining hall), are free; the Kondo (Main Hall) and Kodo (Lecture Hall) cost 800 yen for adults, 400 yen for high school students and 300 yen for junior high and younger in a regular period, and 1,200, 700 and 500 yen when the pagoda's first floor is also open, and dates and fees can change.
• The gate is open 5:00 to 17:00 and the Kondo and Kodo 8:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30), but combined tickets that add the sub-temple Kanchi-in, or also the Treasure Hall, stop selling at 16:00 and 15:30. Early mornings are relatively quiet, except on the 21st, when the market is mostly open by about 8:00, and visitor numbers tend to rise after noon (one August 2026 visitor called it very crowded), so go early; a guided early-morning special visit (7:30 to 8:30, meeting at 7:25, on limited days from May to December 2026, 5,000 yen per person in cash, preschoolers free) goes into the pagoda's first floor, Kondo and Kodo, must be booked by 10:00 two days before, and is canceled if fewer than two people apply.
• The autumn night opening (October 31 to December 13, 2026, with about 200 maples, the Kondo and the Kodo lit) runs 18:00 to 21:30 (entry to 21:00) for 1,000 yen for adults and high school students and 500 yen for junior high and younger, in a separate time slot from daytime, with no group discount or combined ticket. At the 2024 night opening the only entrance was a special entrance at the east gate (Keigamon), cash only, and a step there sent a family with two strollers along a side path; at a February 2026 night opening, the round stones around the pond were dark and slippery under some soles.
• On the 21st of every month, the Kobo-ichi market (about 1,000 stalls of antiques, secondhand clothes, ceramics and general goods, with toys too) fills the grounds and is held rain or shine; the official FAQ says nearly all stalls are open by about 8:00 and closing begins around 16:00, and some close early in rain. The parking lot cannot be used on the 21st (during the autumn night opening it can be used 18:00 to 21:30), the year-end market on December 21, 2026 runs 8:00 to 15:00, and a flea market (garakuta-ichi) runs on the first Sunday of each month.
• From the Hachijo exit of Kyoto Station it is a 15-minute walk of about 1.1 km (a November 2024 family with two strollers and two children needed 15 minutes or more), or ride city bus 71 from in front of Avanti there for about 7 minutes (about 17 minutes including the wait) to Toji Higashimon-mae, a 1-minute walk away. Parking costs 600 yen for 2 hours and 300 yen for each hour after that (1,000 yen at the autumn night opening, and a special rate during the New Year special opening). Most of the grounds are gravel, and one blog calls Toji not stroller-friendly while a June 2026 solo visitor found it flat and easy to walk; the Kondo and Kodo are each entered up stairs, so consider a baby carrier, though one family at the November 2024 night opening asked a staff member and left strollers in front of a souvenir shop.
• Accessible toilets are on the grounds, but sources disagree on whether there are three toilet blocks or four, so do not count on one particular place. Photography is banned inside the Lecture Hall and the three-dimensional mandala is no-photo, so check the official website for images.