Photo By: Elin Chow

We visited the Philosopher's Path (Tetsugaku-no-michi in Japanese) on the fifth day of our 9D8N trip to Japan. The Philosopher's Path is a walking trail in Kyoto that is famous for cherry blossom viewing. It is well known for its colorful foliage in autumn as well.



The Philosopher's Path is located in Northern Higashiyama district of Kyoto. The easiest way to get from Kyoto Station to the Philosopher's Path is by bus 5, 17 or 100. There are no train stations nearby.

I suggest taking bus 5 instead of bus 100 to get to Ginkakuji. Bus 100 is always crowded with local residents and tourists. From Kyoto Station, it will take about 25 minutes to get to Ginkakuji (depending on the traffic). You will need to alight at Ginkakuji-mae bus stop and the fare is 230 Yen.
From Ginkakuji-mae bus stop, it is about a 2 minutes walk to the Philosopher's Path. Simply follow the crowds or Google Maps to find your way there.



The Philosopher's Path is one of the most popular cherry blossoms viewing spots in Kyoto. The two kilometres long stone paved path follows a canal which is lined by hundreds of cherry trees. It got its name from Nishida Kitaro, a 20th century Japanese philosopher and a professor at Kyoto University. He is said to walk this route to practice mediation everyday.

The path begins around Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) and ends in the neighbourhood of Nanzenji and can be explored entirely by foot. You can start from either end, but we prefer to start at Ginkakuji since we planned to take the train back to Kyoto Station.
In spring, both locals and foreign tourists flock here to see the beauty of the cherry blossoms, so it can get pretty crowded. The path has no opening or closing hours, which means you can do the walk at any time of the day you want. But you might want to do it early in the morning or late in the evening when the shrines and temples are not open if you wish to avoid the crowds.


Along the path, you will find plenty of restaurants, cafes and shops, as well as a number of smaller temples and shrines. Some of the temples and shrines have beautiful grounds and gardens but they are often skipped by visitors.


However, you might not have the time to visit all the shrines and temples on this path. Most people would usually choose to visit some of the famous ones. Notable among all these are Ginkakuji, Honen-in, Eikan-do Zenrin-ji and Nanjenji. But we did not visit any of them because we were not interested in shrines and temples.

There are many side roads that lead to small shops that sell Kimonos, authentic local crafts and souvenirs. You will find yourself getting lost for hours in these shops.





Along the path, you will also find a lot of small bridges across the canal where you can walk over and take some pictures. This will enable you to enjoy the beautiful scenery from a different perspective.

Located across the bridge, on the other side of the path are mostly private homes. It will be nice to stay at one of these homes along the path.

Price: 350 Yen / piece

Feeling a little hungry, we bought some steamed buns from one of the food stalls at a small shopping street leading to Ginkakuji. It was so delicious. Nothing makes a cold day feels better than a piping hot steam bun!

Along the way, there are also a number of vending machines along the way, as well as little food carts to get some snacks..
It takes about 30 minutes to complete the walk, but usually, most people will take longer than that. There are more than 500 cherry trees planted along the path. It was a mesmerizing sight with hundreds of cherry blossom in full bloom swaying back and forth in the cool April air, transforming the whole neighbourhood into an ocean of pink. You can easily easily spend a day wandering the cherry blossoms lined stone path while visiting the countless of shops, shrines and temples you found along the way.


As there are plenty of photo opportunities along the way, we were stopping every few steps take photos. In the end, it took us about two hours to do the walk.


Along the way, you will find a lot of benches as well where you can sit down, take a rest and enjoy the scenery. There is also a newer side street that runs next to paved stone path that is wheelchair accessible.





The Philosopher's Path is easily one of Japan's top scenic walk. We enjoyed listening to the sound of flowing water and chirping of the birds. The weather was rather unpredictable during spring. A warm and sunny day can turn cold and drizzly fast.



Located at the end of Philosopher's Path is Nanzenji. Passing through a wooden gate, we entered at a large courtyard area with many scattered buildings and sub-temples.


Leaving Nanzenji, we continue down a trail to Keage Incline, another famous cherry viewing spot in Kyoto.
Keage Incline is basically a disuse cargo railway that begins near Keage Station, which is located just 2 minutes walk away. The railway track is 582 metres long and about 10 minutes on foot. It was built for moving equipments and boats in the 1891, but was closed down in  1948 due to the decrease in demand for transportation using ships.


The railway track was later restored in 1977 to preserve its industrial heritage, and was designated as a National Heritage Site in 1996. It is now opened as a public space where people can take leisurely strolls. This is also a popular spot for wedding photography.


Today, Keage Incline is also one of the famous cherry blossoms viewing spots in Kyoto that is loved by both the locals and foreign tourists. Many tourists visit this area because it is located near to many of the famous shrines and temples like Heian Shrine, Nanzenji and Eikan-do Zenrin-ji.


There are various access point to the incline route. If you are arriving from Nanzenji, it will be an uphill walk to the Keage Station. The Keage Station is the highest point of the Incline. You will find beautiful rows of cherry blossom trees lined on both side of the railway track at the higher end. Just like the Philosopher's Path, most of the cherry trees here have not yet reached full bloom. But still, it was such a stunning sight to see!



The rail road is entirely unpaved, which makes it impossible to access with a wheelchair. It will be hard for people with walking disabilities to walk the railway track.


The pink cherry blossoms create a stunning contrast to the old railway track. You will like walking through a pink tunnel of cherry blossoms. It was incredibly beautiful! But unfortunately, it started to drizzle again while we were halfway along the track. So we ran our way up, looking for shelter.



The rain stopped after 15 minutes. But the sky remained grey and gloomy while the wind blew fiercely on our face. The crowds have thinned out a little due to the sudden rain. It felt peaceful, but we left right as the sky was too grey to take any nice photos.

We had a late lunch at a Izakaya restaurant called Magobei. The restaurant is located at Miyako Michi, a shopping mall on the south west side of Kyoto Kintetsu Station.

Since it was late afternoon, the restaurant was quite empty. It offers reasonable priced set meals that will leave you satisfied and happy.

I ordered a fried chicken cutlet set, which is served with some side salads, miso soup, pickles and rice. The chicken cutlet was nicely fried. Every piece of the meat is crispy on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. The portion size was pretty huge as well and I have trouble finishing everything on the plate.

My husband ordered pan-fried salmon set, which served with side salads, miso soup, pickles, cold tofu and rice. The salmon was fresh but a little too salty. Nevertheless, it still goes really well with the rice.

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day shopping at Kyoto Station. You might want to read my Japan Haul post  if you are interested to know what we bought at Kyoto Station.

Price: 680 Yen

As we were still feeling full from our late lunch, we decided to get some take-away sushi from Sushi no Musashi for dinner. Sushi no Musashi is a casual conveyor belt sushi bar located at Asty Square, a shopping arcade near the Shinkansen ticket gates at Kyoto Station. It is considered as one of the best conveyor belt sushi in Kyoto with always a long queue in front of the restaurant.

You can either choose to wait in the line for a seat or take out at the front counter. The restaurant offers a great selection of sushi to go options, ranging from traditional sushi rolls, nigiri, makizushi and gunkan-maki.

Price: 315 Yen

The sushi were very fresh and food quality were really good. But most importantly, the price was incredibly affordable as well. I would really recommend this restaurant to those who wish to try some good quality but affordable sushi in Kyoto.


If you are interested to know more about our trip, you may want to check out our 9D8N Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka Trip Itinerary + Overview for the list of attractions that we had visited during our 9 days in Japan. For anyone planning your first trip to Japan but have no idea where to start, you should read my "How To Plan A Trip To Japan" post.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates on my 9 days adventures in Japan! You might also want to check My Wanderlust page for some of my other travel adventures.