woodlandvillagey

Ohara: the northern mountain village

A moss garden among cedars, a nunnery with a sad story, and shibazuke pickles.

Photo: Motokoka / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

4.2 km

Time

~ 120 min

Difficulty

Strenuous

Start

Ohara (Kyoto Bus 17)

End

Ohara (Kyoto Bus 17)

Best at

morning

Right now

32°C· Mostly clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Ohara is the Kyoto that the city used to be all the way out — a working mountain village an hour north, where monks and retired empresses came to disappear. The walk is a slow figure-of-eight between two temples with a worked valley in the middle, and the point is the quiet.

Just over four kilometres, best early. Ohara is bus-only — Kyoto Bus 17 up from Demachiyanagi — so come at opening and beat the coaches. Climb the cedar lane to Sanzen-in, the imperial -in (temple) whose moss garden spreads under the trees with small stone jizo figures set into the green; the morning light through the cedars is the thing.

Then drop into the rice-terrace valley and cross to Jakko-in, the -in nunnery where the last of the Heike empresses lived out her grief — the Tale of the Heike ends here. It's a steeper, lonelier climb, and worth it.

Back down for the shibazuke shops on the approach, the red-purple shiso pickle the village invented. Taste before you buy, then the bus home from where it left you.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 448 m·↓ 463 m·217–302 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Sanzen-in
The *-in* (temple) the village is built around — an imperial monastery whose moss garden runs out under tall cedars, dotted with small stone *jizo* figures half-sunk in the green. Come at opening, before the coaches; the moss holds the morning damp and the light comes down in shafts.
01
Sanzen-in
The *-in* (temple) the village is built around — an imperial monastery whose moss garden runs out under tall cedars, dotted with small stone *jizo* figures half-sunk in the green. Come at opening, before the coaches; the moss holds the morning damp and the light comes down in shafts.
02
2
The cedar approach (Roman-zaka)
The cobbled lane climbing to *Sanzen-in* between stone walls and shop awnings. It's short and it's worked hard by tour groups by midday — which is the whole argument for arriving early. Pickle shops line both sides; you'll come back to them.
02
The cedar approach (Roman-zaka)
The cobbled lane climbing to *Sanzen-in* between stone walls and shop awnings. It's short and it's worked hard by tour groups by midday — which is the whole argument for arriving early. Pickle shops line both sides; you'll come back to them.
03
3
Jakko-in
A *-in* nunnery across the valley, where the empress dowager Kenreimon-in retired after the Heike clan's defeat — the closing scene of the *Tale of the Heike*. The hall burned in 2000 and was rebuilt; the story is what you carry up the steps. Quieter than anything on the east side.
03
Jakko-in
A *-in* nunnery across the valley, where the empress dowager Kenreimon-in retired after the Heike clan's defeat — the closing scene of the *Tale of the Heike*. The hall burned in 2000 and was rebuilt; the story is what you carry up the steps. Quieter than anything on the east side.
04
4
The rice-terrace valley
Between the two temples the valley floor is still worked — narrow rice terraces, a stream, persimmon trees by the houses. Walk the lane between them rather than the main road. Greenest in early summer, gold in October.
04
The rice-terrace valley
Between the two temples the valley floor is still worked — narrow rice terraces, a stream, persimmon trees by the houses. Walk the lane between them rather than the main road. Greenest in early summer, gold in October.
05
5
The shibazuke shops
*Ohara* is the home of *shibazuke* — aubergine and cucumber pickled red-purple with *shiso* leaf. The shops on the approach hand out samples on cocktail sticks; taste before you buy, and the older places press their own rather than truck it in.
05
The shibazuke shops
*Ohara* is the home of *shibazuke* — aubergine and cucumber pickled red-purple with *shiso* leaf. The shops on the approach hand out samples on cocktail sticks; taste before you buy, and the older places press their own rather than truck it in.
06
6
Ohara bus terminal
The walk loops back to where the bus drops you. Kyoto Bus 17 runs to *Demachiyanagi* and on to Kyoto Station; check the return times posted at the stop before you wander off, as they thin out in the late afternoon.
06
Ohara bus terminal
The walk loops back to where the bus drops you. Kyoto Bus 17 runs to *Demachiyanagi* and on to Kyoto Station; check the return times posted at the stop before you wander off, as they thin out in the late afternoon.

Ohara: the northern mountain village

On the map.

Things to notice.

Sanzen-in

Sanzen-in

The cedar approach (Roman-zaka)

The cedar approach (Roman-zaka)

Jakko-in

Jakko-in

The rice-terrace valley

The rice-terrace valley

The shibazuke shops

The shibazuke shops

Ohara bus terminal

Ohara bus terminal

Two more, on similar days.

Kurama & Kibune: over the mountain

Kamigamo: the northern shrine