Shinnyodo
Shinnyodo stands at 82 Jodoji Shinnyo-cho in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto. Formally Reishozan Shinsho Gokuraku-ji, it is a Tendai temple whose head temple is Enryakuji on Mount Hiei. Its official site records that the monk Kaisan founded it in 984 and that, after several moves, it returned to its present site in 1693. The principal image is a wooden standing Amida Buddha, said to have been carved by Ennin from a sacred tree and known as the 'nodding Amida' for saving devotees, women in particular. The precinct holds the Edo-period main hall, an Important Cultural Property, and a three-storey pagoda, plus two gardens that borrow the Higashiyama hills as scenery: the dry-landscape Nirvana Garden, created in 1988 by Saburo Sone, and the Zuien Garden, designed in 2010.
Good to know before you go
- notice.topic.q_who:shinnyodo
- At Shinnyodo visitors ring the bell themselves, one strike per group of four to five people. ↗
- notice.topic.q_ticket:shinnyodo
- Shinnyodo: the City of Kyoto's official 2026 New Year's Eve bell list does not say whether numbered tickets or advance booking are needed. ↗
- notice.topic.q_cost:shinnyodo
- Shinnyodo: the City of Kyoto's official 2026 New Year's Eve bell list does not say whether ringing the bell or visiting costs anything. ↗
- notice.topic.q_all_night:shinnyodo
- Shinnyodo: the City of Kyoto's official 2026 New Year's Eve bell list gives only the 23:45 start of the bell and does not say how late the temple stays open that night. ↗
- notice.topic.q_access:shinnyodo
- Shinnyodo: the City of Kyoto's official 2026 New Year's Eve bell list says nothing about transport to the temple on New Year's Eve. ↗
- notice.topic.q_rules:shinnyodo
- Shinnyodo's ringing is done jointly, one strike per group of four to five; the official list gives no other rules such as photography. ↗
- notice.topic.bell:shinnyodo
- Shinnyodo's bell was cast in 1759 — 171 cm across, 285 cm tall, about 3.1 tons — and was returned intact after being requisitioned for metal during the Second World War; its inscription says the previous bell was recast because its tone was poor. The temple's own diary describes New Year's Eve: the monks ring first from 23:45, then visitors ring in groups of three or four, up to 108 strikes in all, with bonfires lit at three spots in the precinct for warmth. ↗
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