Kyoto Autumn Night Visits 2026Kōdai-ji Foliage, Momoyama Ryōran and Higashiyama After Dark

In autumn, Kyoto by day and Kyoto after dark feel like two completely different landscapes.

If you have already walked around Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka during the day, you can follow Nene-no-Michi towards Kōdai-ji as evening approaches. In 2026, the special autumn night visits at Kōdai-ji and Entoku-in run from October 23 to December 13. The lights come on at 17:00 each day, with last admission at 21:30 and the gates closing at 22:00.

Kōdai-ji has long been one of Kyoto’s best-known autumn night scenes. Garyō Pond is especially worth seeing after dark: illuminated autumn leaves reflect in the water, and when the weather is calm, the view can look almost perfectly symmetrical. The foliage is usually closer to its best from mid-November to early December, so if the leaves are your main reason for visiting, consider planning for the second half of November.

This year brings something a little different: a new projection-mapping work, “KODAI-JI ～桃山繚乱～” (Momoyama Ryōran), in Hashin-tei, the garden in front of the Hōjō hall.

Set against the Momoyama period in which Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his wife, Kita-no-Mandokoro Nene, lived, the work brings together golden clouds, flowers, ripples and the more ornate imagery of Momoyama culture. Rather than simply lighting up the temple, this year’s presentation uses the garden itself to tell a story that belongs to Kōdai-ji.

Further along the route, the bamboo grove has a completely different atmosphere. Compared with the autumn reflections in Garyō Pond, its night lighting feels much quieter. Light follows the bamboo and the pathway, revealing a scene very different from the one you see during the day.

If time allows, you do not have to wait until it is completely dark to go in. During the special night-viewing period, Kōdai-ji does not clear visitors between daytime and evening admission. You can arrive before dusk, see the garden in daylight, then take your time and wait for the lights at 17:00. It is a way to watch the same place change from day into night in a single visit.

Neighbouring Entoku-in also opens for special autumn night visits. Adult admission is ¥800 for Kōdai-ji and ¥500 for Entoku-in; a combined ticket for Kōdai-ji, Entoku-in and the Shō Museum costs ¥1,200. If you already plan to visit both temples, the combined ticket is worth considering.

There are two things to note when choosing your date: Entoku-in suspends admission from 14:00 to 16:00 on October 29, and is closed all day on December 11 and 12. If you visit on one of those dates, you can focus your itinerary on Kōdai-ji.

For a first visit to this part of Kyoto, I would put Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka and Nene-no-Michi during the day and Kōdai-ji in the evening on the same itinerary. Following Higashiyama from daylight into night makes for a more connected day than making a separate trip just for the illuminations, and gives you a better sense of the different moods of an autumn day in Kyoto.