Things to Do in Uji 2026: Byodo-in Rules, Matcha Classes and Which Uji Station

Uji is 17 minutes from Kyoto Station on the JR Nara Line and costs ¥240 each way. The best things to do in Uji are the Phoenix Hall at Byodo-in (¥700 plus ¥300 to go inside), a bowl of matcha at the city-run Taihoan tea house (¥1,500), the World Heritage shrine Ujigami Jinja (free) and the Tale of Genji Museum (¥600).

The town splits neatly in two. Byodo-in and its tea-shop street sit on the JR side of the Uji River; Ujigami Shrine, the Genji museum and most tea workshops sit on the Keihan side. This guide is organised by riverbank, with 2026 prices and the rule changes at Byodo-in from 16 October 2026.

JR Uji or Keihan Uji: which station is better for things to do in Uji?

Both stations are called Uji, and they are about a 14-minute walk apart. JR Uji is on the west bank, closer to Byodo-in. Keihan Uji is at the east end of Uji Bridge, closer to Ujigami Shrine and the Genji museum.

	JR Uji (JR Nara Line)	Keihan Uji (Keihan Uji Line)
From Kyoto Station	¥240; about 17 min by Miyakoji Rapid, about 30 min by local train	Not direct
From Gion / Sanjo	Not direct	Keihan Main Line, change at Chushojima; about 30 min, around ¥400
From Demachiyanagi	—	¥460 by IC card; about 46 min
From Osaka	¥960; about 58 min via Kyoto (JR)	From Yodoyabashi or Kyobashi, change at Chushojima; about 60 min, around ¥490
Japan Rail Pass	Covered	Not covered
Walk to Byodo-in	About 10 min	About 10 min, over Uji Bridge
Walk to Ujigami Shrine	About 20 min	About 10 min

Fares and times come from japan-guide.com, the Byodo-in access sheet and Ekitan route searches run on 23 October 2026. Keihan fares are rounded by japan-guide, so check the fare chart at the ticket machine.

The simple rule: arrive by JR from Kyoto Station, leave by Keihan if you are heading to Gion or Osaka. You see both banks without walking back. Suica and ICOCA work on both lines; our IC card guide explains which card to get, and our JR Pass guide covers whether a pass makes sense.

Combining Uji with Fushimi Inari

JR Inari, the station for Fushimi Inari, is on the same JR Nara Line between Kyoto and Uji. Do Fushimi Inari first thing (it is open 24 hours), then carry on south to Uji for Byodo-in by late morning. Check that your train stops at Inari, and see our Fushimi Inari guide for climb times.

West bank: Byodo-in, the Phoenix Hall and the Omotesando tea street

Byodo-in was a Fujiwara family villa that Fujiwara no Yorimichi turned into a temple in 1052, according to Kyoto City’s official guide. Its Phoenix Hall, a National Treasure, sits over a pond and is the building on the ¥10 coin. It is the reason most people come to Uji.

Byodo-in tickets and hours (2026)

Ticket	Adult	Junior high / high school	Elementary
Garden + Hoshokan Museum	¥700	¥400	¥300
Phoenix Hall interior (extra)	¥300	¥300	¥300
Groups over 25 (garden + museum)	¥600	¥300	¥200

• Garden: 8:45–17:30, last entry 17:15. Open every day.
• Hoshokan Museum: 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:45.
• Phoenix Hall interior: slots every 20 minutes from 9:30 to 16:10; the interior reception in the garden opens at 9:10.
• Payment: cards, QR payments and e-money are accepted at the gate, but the Phoenix Hall interior and goshuin stamps are cash only.

Prices and hours are from the Byodo-in visitor guide and FAQ, checked 23 October 2026. The temple has no car park.

How does the Phoenix Hall interior tour work?

You buy a timed ticket at the interior reception inside the garden, not at the main gate. Each ticket is good for one slot only, and you must be there at least five minutes before it starts. If you miss it, the temple will not change the time or refund you.

From 16 October 2026 each slot takes a maximum of 35 people, down from 50, because the temple felt visitors could not pray calmly in a fuller hall. Expect longer waits in spring and autumn, and the reception can close early once the day’s slots are gone, per the temple’s notice.

• Photography is strictly prohibited inside the hall, and you may not photograph the interior from outside either (Japan Tourism Agency text for the hall).
• Do not touch or lean on pillars and doors, keep your bag off everything, and stay behind the bamboo-pole barriers.
• The visit lasts about 15 minutes. The talk inside is in Japanese only; ask at reception for a printed guide in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, German or Thai.
• The interior is not wheelchair accessible; the garden and museum are, and the temple lends wheelchairs.
• Re-entry is normally not allowed. With an interior ticket you can show it at the main gate and spend about an hour in the garden or museum while you wait, but once your tour ends you cannot go back in.

Inside, you see Jocho’s wooden Amida Buddha and the small Bodhisattvas on Clouds on the walls. Of the 52 figures, half the originals are now in the Hoshokan Museum, where you can see them up close; the ones in the hall are replicas.

What has changed at Byodo-in in autumn 2026?

• No night viewing: the spring and autumn illuminations, held since about 2017, are suspended. Spring 2026 was the last one for now, and no autumn 2026 dates are set (notice).
• The Hoshokan’s Tobira-e room is closed all day from 2 to 27 November 2026 (notice).
• Special exhibition “Warriors and Uji” runs at the Hoshokan from 29 September to 13 December 2026, included in the normal ticket (details).
• Drones are banned in and around the precinct.

Practical note: go straight to the interior reception when you enter, buy a slot, then see the garden and museum while you wait. The temple estimates 40–50 minutes for the exterior and museum, 90–120 minutes with the shop and tea room, plus the 15-minute interior.

Omotesando: the tea shops on the way to Byodo-in

The short lane from Uji Bridge to the Byodo-in gate is lined with tea merchants selling leaf tea, matcha sweets and soft-serve. Below are the ones we could verify today, plus the oldest tea house in town at the far end of Uji Bridge.

Shop	What it is	Hours (2026)	Note
Nakamura Tokichi, Byodo-in store	Tea counter and café near the temple (Uji Renge 5-1)	10:00–17:00; café last order 16:30	No reservations; entry can close early when busy (official)
Sanseien Kanbayashi Sannyu	Old tea house on the Omotesando with a matcha-making experience	9:00–17:00, open all year	Book the experience by form or on 0774-21-2636; price on enquiry (Kyoto Prefecture)
Tsuen	Tea house at the east end of Uji Bridge, founded in 1160	10:30–17:30; last order 16:00	Open all year; matcha sweets and leaf tea (official)

Itohkyuemon also has a shop near Byodo-in, but its website was under renovation on 22 October 2026, so we could not confirm hours. Weekday mornings before 11:00 are the easiest time for soft-serve without a queue.

Which matcha experiences in Uji are worth booking?

Uji tea is the main reason to stay longer than a temple visit, and tea is behind most of the best things to do in Uji. The options below run from a 15-minute bowl of tea to a private tea-room session, with verified 2026 prices.

Experience	Price	Length	When	Book
Taihoan city tea house: matcha and seasonal sweet	¥1,500	Short sit-down	10:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30)	Walk-in
Taihoan: tea-ceremony experience (matcha or sencha)	¥3,600	Not stated	Same	Online form, at least 3 days ahead
Takumi no Yakata: make matcha, gyokuro or sencha with an instructor	¥1,500	Not stated	11:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30); closed Wednesdays	TableCheck or 0774-23-0888; same-day option
Fukujuen Uji Kobo: grind matcha on a stone mill	¥2,200	40 min	11:00–16:00 (last admission 15:00)	050-3152-2930; reservations preferred
Fukujuen Uji Kobo: roast your own hojicha	¥2,750	30 min	Same	Same
Nakamura Tokichi main store: stone-mill tea and tea ceremony, max 4 guests	From ¥6,380	About 60 min	Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun at 14:30 or 16:00	Via Otonami

Sources: Taihoan, Takumi no Yakata, Fukujuen, Nakamura Tokichi and Kyoto Prefecture’s tea-experience list (updated 14 October 2026).

Taihoan: the cheapest proper tea in town

Taihoan is run by the city and sits on the riverside, about 10 minutes from either station. You do not need to know any etiquette. Pick up your ticket at the Uji City Tourism Center in front of the tea house.

Two catches. On about four days a month it serves sencha instead of matcha, so check the calendar if you want matcha. It closes on the last weekday of each month and from 21 December to 9 January, so it is shut over the 2026–27 New Year.

Takumi no Yakata and Fukujuen: learn to make it

Takumi no Yakata, the Uji tea dojo three minutes from Keihan Uji, teaches you to brew gyokuro and then lets you eat the leaves. Fukujuen Uji Kobo, seven minutes from Keihan Uji, is the one for grinding your own matcha. Both are better than a café if you want to take a skill home.

For a factory view, Marukyu Koyamaen runs tours with tasting and whisking at its Makishima plant for groups of two to ten, on weekday mornings and early afternoons. It is a taxi ride from the stations, and the price is on enquiry.

East bank: Ujigami Shrine, the Genji museum and Koshoji

Cross Uji Bridge or the island bridges and the crowds thin out fast. The quieter things to do in Uji are here, all within a 10-minute walk of Keihan Uji.

Ujigami Shrine

Free to enter and listed among the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site (1994). Its main hall is said to be the oldest surviving Shinto shrine building in Japan, and the spring at the entrance is one of the “Seven best waters of Uji” (Kyoto City guide).

About 10 minutes from Keihan Uji, 20 from JR Uji. Hours are given as 8:30–17:00 by the city and 9:00–16:20 elsewhere, so arrive before 16:00 to be safe.

Tale of Genji Museum

The last chapters of The Tale of Genji are set in Uji, and this city museum explains them with models, costumes and short films. Admission is ¥600 for adults and ¥300 for children; with a Keihan ticket that carries the coupon mark it drops to ¥480 and ¥240 (Keihan).

Open 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) and over New Year. It is 8 minutes from Keihan Uji and 15 from JR Uji (museum listing). Cards are not accepted, so bring cash.

Koshoji and the Kotozaka slope

Koshoji is a Zen temple on the riverbank, reached by Kotozaka, a gentle 200-metre slope from the stone gate to the main gate under maples. Entry is a ¥500 donation (Walkerplus). This is the place to be for autumn colour in Uji.

When is the best time for things to do in Uji?

Season	What it is like	Watch out for
Late Oct–early Nov 2026	Mild, still green; easier Byodo-in slots on weekdays	Hoshokan Tobira-e room closed 2–27 Nov
Late Nov–early Dec 2026	Autumn colour; Weathernews forecasts Koshoji’s peak from about 30 November and leaf-fall from about 9 December	Longest Phoenix Hall waits; no Byodo-in night viewing this autumn
Winter 2026–27	Quiet; Byodo-in open daily	Taihoan closed 21 Dec–9 Jan; Genji museum closed over New Year
July–September	Evening cormorant fishing on the river	Heat; boats can be cancelled after heavy rain

Koshoji’s usual peak is late November to early December (Weathernews). For the whole city’s timings, see our Kyoto autumn leaves 2026 guide.

Uji cormorant fishing: summer only

Ukai, fishing with trained cormorants, happens on the Uji River in summer only. The 2026 season ran from 1 July to 30 September, closed on Wednesdays (except 1 July and 30 September). There is nothing to see in autumn or winter, and 2027 dates have not yet been announced.

• Times in 2026: boarding from 18:30 in July and August (fishing 19:00 to about 20:00), and from 18:00 in September; check-in from about 17:30.
• Shared boat: ¥2,700 adults, ¥1,200 elementary-school children. No advance booking; it is first come, first served until full.
• Private boats from ¥35,000 for 10 people, booked on 0774-21-2328.
• Boats leave from near Kisen Bridge and cruise around Nakanoshima. Trips are cancelled in storms or when the Amagase Dam releases water.

Uji has four cormorant masters, three of them women. In 2014 it became the first place in Japan to hatch a cormorant by artificial incubation, and nine of these birds, called “Ucchii”, now work the river (Uji City Tourism Association).

A half-day route through Uji

This order fits the main things to do in Uji into about six hours, starting at JR Uji and finishing at Keihan Uji.

Time	Stop	Why
9:00	JR Uji, walk to Byodo-in	Garden opens 8:45; interior reception from 9:10
9:15	Buy a Phoenix Hall slot, then garden and Hoshokan	Slots fill on busy days
11:00	Omotesando tea shops	Before the lunchtime queues
11:45	Taihoan for matcha	Last entry 15:30
12:30	Cross to the east bank for lunch, then Ujigami Shrine	Free and quiet
14:00	Fukujuen stone-mill matcha or the Genji museum	Last admission 15:00 / 16:30
15:30	Koshoji, then Keihan Uji	Keihan runs straight to Gion and Osaka

Heading to Nara instead? Stay on the JR Nara Line south; our quiet temples in Nara guide picks up from there.

Things to do in Uji: FAQ

Sources and how we checked

We checked the facts in this Uji guide on 23 October 2026 against Byodo-in’s official guide and notices, the Uji City Tourism Association, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City’s official travel guide, Keihan, the tea houses’ own pages and the Japan Tourism Agency. Fares are from japan-guide.com and Ekitan route searches; prices can change, so check the linked pages before you go.