By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- Yuki Shrine, Kurama
- Tickets
- Free
- Runs
- October
- Held
- Annual
Jidai Matsuri leaves the Kyoto Imperial Palace at noon and reaches Heian Shrine in the mid-afternoon. Kurama holds shrine rituals during the day and the torch procession builds from around 18:00. Paid seats for Jidai Matsuri go on sale in early September; the city procession is postponed a day if the weather is against it.
Kyoto holds two of its best festivals on the same date and they do not overlap in time, so doing both is genuinely possible. The historical costume procession runs through the middle of the day in the city. The fire festival builds through the evening in a mountain village half an hour to the north. The catch is not the schedule, it is getting back down afterwards, because the village is served by a single two-carriage railway and everybody leaves at once.
What the Kurama Fire Festival actually is
A village fire rite at Yuki Shrine in Kurama, in the mountains north of the city. Households along the one main street set torches burning outside their doors, and through the evening the torches carried up the street grow from small ones held by children to enormous pine bundles that take several adults to lift. It ends with two portable shrines brought down the steep shrine steps. It is loud, close, physically demanding and completely unlike anything else in the Kyoto calendar. The same date carries Jidai Matsuri down in the city, a procession marking the founding of Kyoto as capital, in which two thousand people walk the route in dress from every era of the city’s history.
Where to watch the Kurama Fire Festival
- The village street in Kurama, because there is nowhere else. No route choice exists. Everything happens along one road between the station and the shrine steps, and you stand at the edge of it while torches pass close enough to feel on your face. Get up there in the afternoon rather than the evening.
- Jidai Matsuri at the Imperial Palace, for the start. The procession forms inside the palace grounds and leaves around midday. There is space, the light is good, and you see the costumes standing still before they set off, which is when the detail is actually visible.
- Jidai Matsuri on the central streets, for a shorter commitment. Free viewing runs the length of the route. Anywhere on Oike-dori or Karasuma-dori gives you the whole procession passing inside an hour, which leaves the afternoon clear for the journey north.
- Jidai Matsuri paid seats, if you want to sit down. Allocated seating exists at the palace, outside the city hall and on the approach to Heian Shrine, sold through the city tourism board. They open for sale weeks ahead and the front row costs meaningfully more than the rows behind it.
- Heian Shrine for the arrival, which is the part to skip. The procession reaches the shrine in the mid-afternoon and that is the latest and most crowded point on the route. Staying for it puts you in the worst of the crush at exactly the hour you need to be moving towards the northbound train.
Tickets and what it costs
Kurama costs nothing. There is no ticket, no allocated area and no paid viewing of any kind, which is part of why the street gets as tight as it does. The city procession is also free to watch along its whole route, and its paid seating is optional: a general tier at a few thousand yen, a front row at half again as much, and a small number of premium places. Those sell through the city tourism board weeks ahead and the front row goes first. If you are combining the two, buy nothing, because a numbered seat commits you to staying later than the plan allows.
Official information and booking: www.japan.travel/en/spot/67
Getting there
Kurama is reached on the Eizan line from Demachiyanagi and the journey takes around half an hour. That railway is the whole problem. It runs two-carriage trains up a single mountain line and it is the only practical way in or out for several thousand visitors. Go up in the afternoon, well ahead of the evening rush, and accept that the return queue after the procession can run to a couple of hours. Some people walk over the ridge to Kibune and take the road out from there instead. If you are doing both festivals, leave the city procession before it reaches Heian Shrine, walk to Demachiyanagi, and get on a northbound train while everyone else is still watching.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Other Kyoto events
Frequently asked questions
Can you do Jidai Matsuri and the Kurama Fire Festival on the same day?
Yes, and the timings work. The procession runs through the middle of the day in the city and the fire festival builds through the evening in the mountains. The constraint is the return journey from Kurama rather than the schedule. Leave the procession before it reaches Heian Shrine and head north early.
How do you get to the Kurama Fire Festival?
The Eizan line from Demachiyanagi, around half an hour up a single mountain track in two-carriage trains. It is the only practical route in or out, which is why it becomes the defining problem of the evening rather than a detail of it.
How long does it take to get back from Kurama?
Allow a couple of hours of queueing after the procession. Everyone leaves at once and the railway simply cannot move that many people quickly. Walking over the ridge to Kibune and out by road is the alternative, and it is not a short walk in the dark.
Is the Kurama Fire Festival free?
Completely. No tickets, no allocated viewing, no paid areas anywhere. That is also why the street gets so tight, and why following the direction of shrine staff and police matters more here than at most festivals.
What time should you arrive in Kurama?
Mid to late afternoon. Positions along the street and the trains north both fill well before anything happens, and there is nowhere indoors to wait once you are up there. Bring warm layers, because a mountain evening is considerably colder than the city.
Is it suitable for young children?
The early part of the evening is, and children carry the smaller torches themselves. The later stages are not: the crowd compresses, the large torches pass very close, and leaving becomes difficult. Families tend to go up early and come down before the peak.
Sources
- Japan National Tourism Organization, Kurama Fire Festival
- Kyoto City Tourism, Jidai Matsuri
- Eizan Electric Railway
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.