Kitano Tenmangu Autumn Light-up 2026

On the west side of Kitano Tenmangu, the Kyoto shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the patron of learning, lies Momiji-en: a maple garden of about 350 trees growing on the Odoi, an earthen rampart Toyotomi Hideyoshi built around the city in 1591. Each autumn the garden stays open after dark for a night illumination of the fall foliage. Because the maples grow on and below the bank, you look down on the autumn leaves from the top of the Odoi and up at them from the Kamiya River below. Highlights include the vermilion Uguisu-bashi bridge, the "three-pronged maple" said to be over 400 years old, and a lookout over the shrine's National Treasure main hall. A small traditional sweet is included with admission, and during the light-up period the garden stays open from 9:00 to 20:00, so one ticket covers both daytime and night viewing.