Kami Daigo, the Origin of Daigo-ji Temple
Located just outside of Kyoto City, Daigoji is a must for people who really want to see the remnants of ancient Japan. However, there is a catch. The temple consists of two parts: Shimo-Daigo and Kami-Daigo. Shimo-Daigo is the more popular of the two, as it is easier to access, but the origins of Daigo-ji Temple stem from Kami-Daigo. Seated high on its mountain perch Kami-Daigo is indeed harder to reach.
※For the history of Daigo-ji Temple, see our post on previous post on Shimo-daigo.
Kami Daigo
Getting to Kami Daigo
The trail that leads to Kami Daigo is located near Shimo Daigo’s nyonin-do, which is near the kannon-do in the back of the temple grounds. Since the trail entrance is just outside of the main temple grounds, keep in mind that once you leave this area, you cannot go back to the main temple grounds of Shimo Daigo!
The trail from Shimo Daigo to Kami Daigo is about 3km and will take roughly an hour to an hour and a half. The trail is marked so you won’t get lost. Make sure to bring enough water with you, as there are no vending machines up the mountain.
Kami Daigo Trail
Nyonin-do is the starting point for climbing up the mountain. You have to pay an additional 600 yen to climb up the mountain, but if you have a ticket for Shimo Daigo, you can get 100 yen off!!
The trail starts very smoothly, but as you go on there are plenty of stairs.
There are 20 stone markers every 108m. These markers are much like the ones found along the Choishi-michi that leads to Koyasan.
Temple Grounds
Upon arriving here, you can enjoy some water from the same spring where the temple’s name comes from. After walking for an hour in the hot summer heat this year, this water was very refreshing!
From here, you can find several temple buildings such as Kiyotaki Shrine.
Near Kiyotaki Shrine is what is seemingly an empty lot, but in fact this is the heart of Kami-Daigo, the Juntei-do. In a tragic turn of fate, the Juntei-do was struck by lightning and completely burnt down in 2008.
Thankfully, while the building itself is gone, the Juntei-do’s Kannon statue originally enshrined here, survived and is now in the Kannon-do in Shimo Daigo.
You will need to give yourself about 30 minutes to so to walk around and completely explore Kami Daigo, since its buildings are spread out along the top of the mountain.
Finally, after about an hour and thirty minutes from the entrance is the top of the Mt. Daigo (450m). From there you can visit the the Nyoirin-do and the Kaizan-do.
Kami Daigo
| Address |
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1 Daigo Daigoyama, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
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| Website |
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| Getting To |
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See our page of Shimo Daigo
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| Hours |
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9:00-16:00 (9:00-15:00 in winter)
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| Admission |
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600 yen (500 yen if you have a entrance ticket of Shimo Daigo)
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| Note |
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