Temple · Nishikyo
Yoshiminedera
善峯寺
Yoshiminedera is an independent Tendai temple at 1372 Oshio-cho, Oharano, in Nishikyo Ward, Kyoto, and the twentieth temple of the Saigoku thirty-three temple pilgrimage. Its official history records that the priest Gensan founded it in 1029, enshrining a Thousand-armed Kannon as its principal image. The grounds cover about 30,000 tsubo and hold halls rebuilt in the Edo period, including the belfry, Kannondo and Yakushido. The Yuryu no Matsu pine, a designated Natural Monument, is a five-needle pine more than 600 years old and 37 metres long, and the grounds include a circuit-style garden that changes with the seasons.
Good to know before you go
- notice.topic.q_who:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera: the City of Kyoto's official 2026 New Year's Eve bell list does not say who may take part, or whether foreign visitors and non-worshippers can ring the bell. ↗
- notice.topic.q_ticket:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera's New Year's Eve bell requires no numbered tickets. ↗
- notice.topic.q_cost:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera: 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:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera's bell runs from 23:45 on December 31 to 01:15 (planned); it is not an all-night opening. ↗
- notice.topic.q_access:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera: 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:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera: the City of Kyoto's official 2026 New Year's Eve bell list gives no on-site rules on photography, belongings or alcohol. ↗
- notice.topic.bell:yoshiminedera
- Yoshiminedera: the bell here is known as a charm against misfortune — its bell house was built in 1686 by Keishoin, mother of the shogun Tsunayoshi, as a donation for his unlucky year. On New Year's Eve the first 108 people to ring receive a gift of sweets (called ofukuwake), and anyone after the 108 may still ring freely. ↗
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