By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Where
- Venues across Kyoto, including the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art
- Tickets
- Ticketed
- Time of year
- April to May
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
From the festival: Saturday 17 April to Sunday 16 May 2027, its 15th edition; the theme, artists and venues are announced later. For scale, the 2026 edition, themed “EDGE”, put 14 exhibitions in 12 venues, with a passport to every paid venue at ¥6,000 (¥3,000 for students) and an express passport at ¥15,000.
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KYOTOGRAPHIE is an international photography festival that spreads across Kyoto for a month every spring, from mid-April to mid-May. Its main exhibitions, around a dozen, are staged in traditional townhouses, temples, galleries and museums around a single theme, and a satellite festival, KG+, adds some two hundred smaller shows. A passport covers one entry to every paid venue, and single-venue tickets are sold online and at each door.
What KYOTOGRAPHIE actually is
It was founded by Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi, who still direct it and set a theme for each edition. The setting matters as much as the pictures: the exhibitions are designed with local architects and craftspeople for spaces that were never built as galleries, from machiya townhouses to temple halls.
Around the main shows run talks where you can meet the artists, portfolio reviews, masterclasses, a children’s programme and a photobook fair. KG+, the open satellite festival, fills around 150 more spaces across the city with work by emerging photographers and curators.
A month is long enough that crowds are rarely the problem. The run overlaps the last of the cherry blossom and Golden Week at the turn of April and May, so the weekdays either side are the easy time to go.
How to see it
- Plan by district. The venues are spread across the city, but they cluster, around Okazaki and its museums and through the old streets of central Kyoto among them. Group them by area and a passport fills two or three days at a comfortable pace.
- The KYOCERA Museum and the large halls. The biggest shows have hung in major venues such as the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art in Okazaki, which is the place to start if your time is short.
- The townhouses and temples. The smaller venues are the reason to come: a photograph in a machiya’s tatami room or a temple building is a different thing from one on a white wall. Opening hours and closing days vary by venue, so check each one.
- KG+, between the main venues. The satellite shows are scattered through the city, so pick some up on the walk from one main exhibition to the next.
Tickets and what it costs
The passport is the one to buy if you plan to see most of the programme: one entry to each paid venue for the whole run, at ¥6,000 last time and half that for students. An express passport, at well over twice the price, adds priority entry. Single-venue tickets, around ¥1,000 at a typical venue last time, suit a visit to one or two shows.
Passports and tickets are sold online and at the venues, and the prices for each edition are published shortly before it opens.
Official information and booking: www.kyotographie.jp/en
Getting there
Kyoto’s buses are the slowest way between venues in spring, when the routes past the famous temples are packed. Use the subway for the long hops, and walk or hire a bicycle within each district.
Book a room early if your dates touch Golden Week at the turn of April and May, when Japan’s own holiday crowds arrive; the weeks either side are easier and cheaper.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Trying to see it all in a day
A dozen venues spread across the city, each with its own hours, is too much for one day. Give it two or three, grouped by district.
Assuming every venue keeps the same hours
Opening times and closing days differ from venue to venue. Check before crossing the city for a single show.
Buying single tickets for the main programme
Once you plan more than five or six paid venues, the passport is the cheaper way in.
Skipping the satellite shows
KG+ is where the newer photographers are. Leave time to stop at the ones you pass between the main venues.
Other Kyoto events
Frequently asked questions
What is KYOTOGRAPHIE?
An international photography festival held across Kyoto for a month every spring, with around a dozen main exhibitions staged in townhouses, temples, galleries and museums, and a satellite festival, KG+, alongside.
How much is a KYOTOGRAPHIE passport?
Last time a passport, with one entry to each paid venue, cost ¥6,000, or ¥3,000 for students. Each edition’s prices are published shortly before it opens.
Where is KYOTOGRAPHIE held?
In venues all over Kyoto, from major museums such as the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art in Okazaki to machiya townhouses and temple buildings. The venues change with each edition.
How long do you need for KYOTOGRAPHIE?
Two or three days to see the main exhibitions at a comfortable pace, grouped by district, with time for some of the KG+ shows on the way.
What is KG+?
The satellite festival that runs alongside KYOTOGRAPHIE, with some two hundred smaller exhibitions by emerging photographers and curators in around 150 spaces across Kyoto.
Sources
- KYOTOGRAPHIE, the next dates announced
- KYOTOGRAPHIE, about the festival
- KG+, the satellite festival
- CAPA CAMERA WEB, the last festival’s passes and venues (Japanese)
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.