Worth it if
Travelers who like quieter temples, odd details, photography, and places with personality.
Skip it if
People with mobility limitations or very limited Kyoto time.
A small temple at the northern end of Arashiyama's Sagano area — past the point where most visitors turn back — where the hillside grounds hold 1,200 stone rakan figures (Buddhist saints) carved by ordinary visitors over several decades. Each one is different. Some are meticulously made. Some are clearly personal. Many are expressive to the point of strange.
Exactly because most people don't make the effort. The walk through Sagano to get here is already good — quiet lanes between bamboo and cedar, occasional small shrines, almost no other tourists. When you arrive, the rakan figures are scattered across a mossy hillside and have a collective presence that no amount of description prepares you for.
The 1,200 stone rakan figures at Otagi Nenbutsuji, each carved by a different volunteer, each with a different expression, are one of the stranger and more quietly affecting things in the Arashiyama area. They are also at the far edge of the tourist radius, which means most people never reach them. A taxi up and a walk back down through the Sagano lanes takes about two hours total and gives you the temple largely to yourself. Twenty minutes inside is enough. The faces reward slow attention.
On the ground
Why locals go
The figures were carved by ordinary people — the collection was built over decades through a programme that invited public participation. Some are crudely carved, some technically impressive, some obviously personal in a way you can't quite explain. The variety makes the whole thing feel human rather than institutional.
What visitors miss
Most Arashiyama visitors stop at the bamboo grove, Tenryu-ji, and possibly Jojakko-ji, then return. Otagi Nenbutsuji is 30 minutes further on foot from the main zone and almost entirely absent from most itineraries.
Best combined with
Practical tips
Taxi up from central Arashiyama (5 minutes, inexpensive) and walk the Sagano forest path back down — this direction gives you the best of both.
Pair with Adashino Nenbutsuji on the same walk — a different kind of stone figure temple, a few minutes south of Otagi, that also rewards quiet attention.
Best in the morning before the day warms up and before the rare visitors who make it here arrive.
Location
Visit info
Best time
Late morning or afternoon after the main Arashiyama rush, especially if you start farther north and walk back down.
Time needed
1–2 hours
Location
Kyoto
Website
Visit siteLast reviewed: June 2026
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