Kifune
・The riverside dining area is extremely popular in summer
・Mount Kurama, where the legend of Tengu remains
【City description】
Located in the north of Kyoto city, Kifune has long been known as a power spot and is still a popular tourist spot visited by many tourists today. The area is also attractive for its different scenery depending on the season, such as the riverside terraces in summer and the autumn leaves in autumn. It is also adjacent to Mount Kurama, where the legend of Ushiwakamaru and Tengu remains, so it is recommended to visit both at the same time.
【Overall rating】
★★★★★
【Time required】
5 h
【Budget】
1100 yen
【Fatigue】
★★★★★
Access
If you are going to Kifune by public transportation, you will take the Eizan Electric Railway. You will need to transfer from Kyoto Station and there are various ways to get to the Eizan Electric Railway, but if you are only going by train, you can take the JR from Kyoto Station, transfer to the Keihan Electric Railway at Tofukuji Station, one stop away, and then transfer to the Eizan Electric Railway at Demachiyanagi Station.
Kifune and Kurama
The main attraction for sightseeing in Kifune is Kifune Shrine, but Kurama Temple is also a famous site and it is recommended to visit both. However, between Kifune and Kurama Temple is Mount Kurama, so you will need to walk along the mountain path for about an hour, although you will still see the famous sights along the way. For this reason, comfortable shoes and clothing are recommended if you plan to visit both. The station you get off at will also change depending on whether you are coming from Kifune or Kurama.
The model itinerary I will introduce below will introduce a route that visits the main Kifune Shrine and then heads for Kurama Temple, but you can also reverse the order and go to Kurama Temple first. I myself took the route from Kurama to Kifune.
Itinerary Map
Navigation
【Start】①Kibuneguchi Station
★Route time required：10 min
Take bus number 33 from the bus stop in front of the station and get off at the Kibune bus stop. The fare is 200 yen and it takes 5 minutes to get there. There is a gentle uphill climb from the station, so we recommend taking the bus. After getting off the bus, continue walking up the hill and you will see a red torii gate on your left.
★Route time required：10 min
Continue walking up the slope and you will see a staircase on your left.
★Route time required：5 min
If you continue climbing the slope, the last Okumiya shrine will come into view.
★Route time required：40 min
Returning to the main shrine, cross the bridge on your left to reach the entrance to Mt. Kurama. Pay the 500 yen entrance fee and walk along the mountain path for about an hour from here. If you want to end your tour without going to Mt. Kurama, take the bus back to the station from the same bus stop as you did on the way there. There is only one mountain path to Mt. Kurama, so just follow the road and you will reach your next destination. After climbing the mountain path for a while, you will reach the temple.
★Route time required：10 min
Follow the path and you will see the next temple.
★Route time required：10 min
Follow the path and you will come to a stone at the end of the uphill path.
★Route time required：a few minutes
Go to the open area opposite the comparison stone.
★Route time required：10 min
Go down the road and you will see the building.
★Route time required：a few minutes
Leave the museum and go to the hut in front.
★Route time required：5 min
Continue along the path and you will reach the temple.
★Route time required：20 min
From here, you can walk down the approach to the shrine. You can enjoy the view from Mount Kurama and the red lanterns as you go. There is a fork in the road, so if you take the left path, you will arrive at the cable car station.
★Route time required：10 min
After leaving the station, follow the road downhill and out the gate, continue downhill. As you come to a curve, you can access the car park on your right to continue to the station.
⑬Kurama Station
Click the square mark on the top left of the map to see a list of tourist spots. If you open the enlarge button on the top right corner on your smartphone, this model course will be displayed on Google Maps along with its location information. You can also quickly return to this map from the table of contents in the sidebar (if using a smartphone, select “Go to table of contents” from the menu at the bottom of the screen).
【Start】
①Kibuneguchi Station
★Route time required：10 min
Take bus number 33 from the bus stop in front of the station and get off at the Kibune bus stop. The fare is 200 yen and it takes 5 minutes to get there. There is a gentle uphill climb from the station, so we recommend taking the bus. After getting off the bus, continue walking up the hill and you will see a red torii gate on your left.
②Kifune Shrine（Main Shrine）
Time required : 30 min
Admission fee：0 yen
Opening hour：6 am – 6 pm
Close：No
Kifune Shrine is made up of three parts: the Main Shrine, the Yui no Yashiro Shrine, and the Okumiya Shrine. The Main Shrine is the first to be visited. This Main Shrine was relocated in 1055 after the Okumiya Shrine, where the shrine first began, was flooded.
Takaokami no Kami, who controls water, is enshrined here. This god was born when Izanagi cut the fire god born from Izanagi and Izanami, and is considered the god of water as opposed to fire. For this reason, Kifune Shrine is also the head shrine for all 2,000 water gods across the country, and spring water from Mt. Kifune flows from the stone walls.
A popular item is the water divination fortune-telling slip, which reveals your fortune when floated in the spring water.
Kibune can also be written as Ki-Iku-Ne（氣生根）, which means being filled by coming into contact with divine energy, and is said to bring good fortune, such as increased luck, finding a partner, and having one’s wishes granted. Kibune is called Kifune without the glottal stop, because the water is clear as it enshrines the god of water.
There are two statues of horses of different colors in the precincts, which are the origin of votive plaques. This originates from the fact that people would offer a black horse in the event of a drought, and a white or red horse in the event of continuous rain.
★Route time required：10 min
Continue walking up the slope and you will see a staircase on your left.
③Kifune Shrine（Yui no Yashiro）
Time required : 15 min
Admission fee：0 yen
Opening hour：6 am – 6 pm
Close：No
The second Kifune Shrine is famous as a shrine for matchmaking. It is also popular to have your love fortune told with the green fortune slips.
Iwanagatame-no-Mikoto, who is enshrined here, is the older sister of Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto. When both of them were proposed to by the same man at the same time, only her younger sister married, and as a result, she stayed here and was enshrined here as a way to grant people good matches.
Also, when Murasaki Shikibu was worried about her husband’s change of heart, she visited here and composed a poem, and the two became closer, which explains why it is said to be a power spot for matchmaking.
★Route time required：5 min
If you continue climbing the slope, the last Okumiya shrine will come into view.
④Kifune Shrine（Okumiya）
Time required : 15 min
Admission fee：0 yen
Opening hour：6 am – 6 pm
Close：No
This is the place where Kifune Shrine was founded, and like the main shrine, Takaokami no Kami is enshrined here. It is said that one of Japan’s three great dragon holes is located directly below the main shrine.
There is also a boat-shaped stone structure beside the main shrine, which is the origin of the name Kifune. It is said that Tamayorihime no Mikoto, the mother of the first emperor, Emperor Jimmu, reversed the flow of the Yodo River, Kamo River, and Kifune River to enshrine the water god here, and that the boat she rode in at that time was yellow, which is why the shrine came to be called Kifune.
★Route time required：40 min
Returning to the main shrine, cross the bridge on your left to reach the entrance to Mt. Kurama. Pay the 500 yen entrance fee and walk along the mountain path for about an hour from here. If you want to end your tour without going to Mt. Kurama, take the bus back to the station from the same bus stop as you did on the way there. There is only one mountain path to Mt. Kurama, so just follow the road and you will reach your next destination. After climbing the mountain path for a while, you will reach the temple.
⑤Maōden
Time required : 10 min
Admission fee：0 yen
Opening hour：6 am – 8 pm
Close：No
This is the inner sanctuary of Kurama Temple, which we are heading for now. There is a legend that an alien came down from Venus about 6.5 million years ago in this mountain, and is called Goho Maoson. This inner sanctuary is where that demon king is enshrined. It is located in a quiet place in the mountains.
★Route time required：10 min
Follow the path and you will see the next temple.
⑥Sōjō-ga-tani Fudo-do Temple
Time required : 10 min
Admission fee：0 yen
Opening hour：6 am – 8 pm
Close：No
This is the hall where the statue of Acala, carved by Saicho himself, is enshrined. Mount Kurama is where Ushiwakamaru, otherwise known as Minamoto no Yoshitsune, trained between the ages of 7 and 16, studying Buddhism during the day and military strategy at night. His military strategy teacher was a Tengu called Sojobo.
His true identity was the aforementioned alien from Venus, Goho Maoson, and it is said that the two men met at the very site of this hall.
★Route time required：10 min
Follow the path and you will come to a stone at the end of the uphill path.
⑦Yoshitsune Height Comparison Stone
Time required : 5 min
This is the stone where Minamoto no Yoshitsune compared his height with when he finished his training and left for Oshu. This is the 485m altitude point, and the trail starts from here.
★Route time required：a few minutes
Go to the open area opposite the comparison stone.
⑧Root path
Time required : 5 min
It is a strange place where tree roots are visible on the surface of the earth. This is because the soil around here contains magma, making it hard and preventing the roots from penetrating the ground.
★Route time required：10 min
Go down the road and you will see the building.
⑨Reihō-den
Time required : 40 min
Admission fee：200 yen
Opening hour：9 am – 4 pm
Close：Monday, 12/12 – 2/28
This is a museum about Kurama Temple and Mount Kurama.
It is a three-story building.
1st floor: Natural history museum introducing the flora and fauna of Mount Kurama
2nd floor: Museum displaying Kurama Temple’s paintings, crafts, and other art collections, as well as information on Yosano Akiko
3rd floor: Buddhist statues, including the national treasure Bishamonten statue
★Route time required：a few minutes
Leave the museum and go to the hut in front.
⑩Tohakutei
Time required : a few minutes
This study was a gift to a poet Yosano Akiko from her pupils to celebrate her 50th birthday.
★Route time required：5 min
Continue along the path and you will reach the temple.
⑪Kuramadera Temple
Time required : 30 min
Admission fee：0 yen
Opening hour：9 am – 4 pm
Close：No
This temple is the main tourist spot on Mt. Kurama. There are two theories about the origins of the temple, but both say that the founder discovered Mt. Kurama after receiving a prophecy in a dream, and built the temple where a statue of Bishamonten already existed. One of the theories states that Bishamonten is the same as Kannon.
For this reason, the following three deities are enshrined as the trinity of deities at Kurama Temple.
① Bishamonten: Symbol of light, spirit of the sun
② Thousand-Armed Kannon Bodhisattva: Symbol of love, spirit of the moon
③ Goho Maoson: Symbol of power, spirit king of the earth
These are enshrined in the main hall, but can only be seen once every 60 years, in the year of the Hei-in Tiger. In front of the main hall is a piece of ground with a pattern called a Kongo-doko, from which it is said you can feel the energy of the universe.
Also, at the entrance to the main hall, there is a pair of A-un tigers, rather than lion dogs.
This is the divine beast that is the messenger of Bishamonten, and it is said that Bishamonten appeared in the month, day, and hour of the tiger.
★Route time required：20 min
From here, you can walk down the approach to the shrine. You can enjoy the view from Mount Kurama and the red lanterns as you go. There is a fork in the road, so if you take the left path, you will arrive at the cable car station.
⑫Tahoto Pagoda Station
Time required : 5 min
Admission fee：200 yen
Opening hour：9 am – 4h30 pm
Close：No
You can ride the shortest cable car in Japan, operated by Kurama Temple, which is just 200 meters long. The Tahoto Reido temple is a rare place where a temple also serves as a station, and if you board the cable car from here, you can descend the mountain in one go.
★Route time required：10 min
After leaving the station, follow the road downhill and out the gate, continue downhill. As you come to a curve, you can access the car park on your right to continue to the station.
【Goal】
⑬Kurama Station
This is the starting station for the Eizan Electric Railway. In front of the station there is a huge Tengu mask and a train display.
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