Byodoin through the year

Notices from the temple

• Special exhibition at the Hoshokan Museum, “Warriors and Uji”, part 3: 29 September – 13 December 2026. Temple notice
• Hoshokan Museum: the room showing the hall’s original colours and door paintings is closed all day from 2 to 27 November 2026 for conservation work, except at weekends and on 23 November. Dates may change. Temple notice
• No special night viewing in autumn 2026: the temple has suspended it for now. Temple notice

Checked 21 October 2026. Notices disappear from this list once their dates have passed.

Yearly events

1. 2 March

   Memorial for the regent Yorimichi 頼通忌

   For Fujiwara no Yorimichi, who founded Byodoin. He died on the 2nd day of the 2nd month of 1074 in the old calendar, so the ceremony is held in March. It is the only ceremony held inside the Phoenix Hall, and is known locally as a sign of spring.

   Visitors can watch from across the pond.

2. 26 May

   Memorial for Minamoto no Yorimasa 頼政忌

   On the day Yorimasa died at Byodoin in 1180, priests chant sutras at his grave by Saishoin and on the Fan Lawn.

   Visitors can watch.

3. 31 December

   New Year’s Eve: the temple bell 除夜会・除夜の鐘

   After a ceremony at the Phoenix Hall, the large bell is rung 108 times around midnight. Visitors can take part from 23:30, ringing it together in small groups. A votive tablet (ema) with the coming year’s zodiac animal is handed out, first come, first served.

   The temple hadn’t posted details for 2026 when we checked; look at its news before you go.

What's in flower, month by month

The flowers

• Muromachi camellia 室町椿 · February–March

  Grown from a seed of the Muromachi period found in the garden; first flowered in 2003.

• Japanese quince 木瓜 · Early to late March

  A large tree in front of Jodoin, bright red.

• Cherry blossom 桜 · Late March to early April

  Around the pond, several kinds including weeping cherry.

• Wisteria 藤 · Mid-April to early May

  Three trellises; the one by the pond is said to be about 280 years old, with clusters over a metre long.

• Azalea 躑躅 · Mid-April to early May

  Two kinds, flowering one after the other, at the same time as the wisteria.

• Water lily 睡蓮 · Late May to September

  In groups on the south-east side of the pond.

• Byodoin lotus 平等院蓮 · Late June to early August

  Byodoin’s own lotus, grown from a seed found in the pond in 1999. Lotus flowers open early and close by the afternoon: come in the morning.

• Crape myrtle 百日紅 · August to early September

  On the south shore of the pond. Its pollen was found in soil from the temple’s founding.

• Autumn leaves 紅葉 · Mid-November to early December

  About 200 maples across the grounds.

• Sasanqua camellia 山茶花 · December to February

  By the museum and the South Gate.

Best times are the temple's own and vary a little each year. Snow is rare in Uji: a snowy Phoenix Hall, between late December and February, is a lucky sight. Where the flowers are: the temple's seasonal flower map; the wisteria is on our map.

Seasons and crowds

Our crowd forecast and the interior waiting time go up in these windows:

• New Year holidays: 1 Jan – 3 Jan
• Cherry blossom season: 25 Mar – 10 Apr
• Wisteria season: 15 Apr – 5 May
• Golden Week: 29 Apr – 5 May
• Autumn leaves: 15 Nov – 5 Dec

For the lotus, come in the morning anyway: the flowers close by the afternoon.