Shitennō-ji

Where to buy

• Buy at the entrance on the day.
• Buy from the official site or the ticket desk; resellers add a fee for the same ticket.
• Bring cash; cards may not be taken (check).
• Inner compound (Chūshin Garan), adult: Counter at the inner-compound gate, cash
• Gokuraku-jōdo garden: Garden gate
• Treasure house: Treasure house, during exhibitions

Official site ↗

Queues

• Inner compound (Chūshin Garan), adult: Rarely a queue.

Dress code

• Shoes: Off inside the pagoda and some halls; carry clean socks.

What to wear: dress-code checker

Bags & lockers

• No lockers; the pagoda stairs are steep and narrow.
• Lockers or cloakroom (no) Lockers at Tennōji station.

Photos

• Allowed outdoors; not inside halls where signs say so.
• Drones banned.

What's closed

• WeeklyOpen every day.
• Inner compound hourscheckAbout 08:30–16:30 from April to September and to 16:00 from October to March.About 8:30 AM–4:30 PM from April to September and to 4:00 PM from October to March.
• Treasure housecheckOpens for set exhibition periods only.

“Check” dates move year to year: confirm on the official page for your date.

1. 1Walk 5 minutes from Shitennōji-mae Yūhigaoka station and enter by the south or west gate; the stone torii at the west gate dates from 1294.
2. 2Walk the free outer precinct first, then pay for the inner compound (Chūshin Garan) with the five-storey pagoda and main hall.
3. 3Climb the stairs inside the pagoda if you like; shoes off at the entrance.
4. 4Add the Gokuraku-jōdo garden if you want a quiet 20 minutes, then walk south-west to Shinsekai (about 20 minutes).

Minimum

30min

Worthwhile

40min

Typical

60min

p95

80min

1. 1

   Stone torii (west gate)

   5 min

   A 1294 stone gate, an Important Cultural Property.

2. 2

   Chūshin Garan: gate, pagoda, main hall, lecture hall

   25 min

   The oldest temple layout type in Japan, rebuilt in concrete after 1945.

   extra ticket
3. 3

   Inside the five-storey pagoda

   10 min

   Steep stairs to the top; shoes off.

   extra ticket
4. 4

   Gokuraku-jōdo garden

   20 min

   Stroll garden with streams, calm on most days.

   optionalextra ticket
5. 5

   Turtle pond

   5 min

   Dozens of turtles sunning on the stones.

• ~Step-free entrance: partly · partlySteep narrow stairs inside the pagoda.
• ✕Lifts: no · no
• ?Accessible toilet: check · check
• ~Wheelchair: partly · partlyThe outer precinct is manageable on the paved paths; ask staff about the inner compound (check).
• ~Stroller: partly · partlyGravel is hard going; leave it outside the inner compound.
• ✓Places to sit: yes · yesBenches in the precinct and in the garden.

Gravel and paving in the precinct; a threshold step into the inner compound; the pagoda interior is stairs only.

“Check” rows move every year; confirm dates on the official calendar before you plan around them.

• You are heading to Nara or Kyoto for temples and are short of time.

food

Not in the inner compound; stalls on market days in the outer precinct.

with kids

Climbing the pagoda and the turtle pond work; market days are busy.

child price

child rate lower than adult (check)

1. 5 minAizendō Shōman-in — Small temple of the Aizen Matsuri (30 Jun – 2 Jul).
2. 15 minAbeno Harukas — Observation deck and department store over Tennōji station.
3. 15 minTennōji Park and Keitakuen garden — Park and a small stroll garden (check hours).
4. 20 minTsūtenkaku and Shinsekai — Downhill walk south-west; lunch at a kushikatsu counter.
5. 22 minKushikatsu Daruma · eat — Fried skewers at a Shinsekai counter.

Walk the Shinsekai / Tennōji area · the cluster page has the walking order, rescue stops and after-dark notes

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