Kyoto Tower

Kyoto Tower is a 131-meter observation tower directly opposite Kyoto Station, and its deck at 100 meters is the highest viewpoint in the city. Since April 2024 its official name has been Nidec Kyoto Tower. Admission to the observation deck is 1,000 yen for adults.

The white tower opened on December 28, 1964, the same year the Tokaido Shinkansen began running. Architect Mamoru Yamada, who also designed the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, modeled it on a lighthouse. The idea is that the tiled roofs of old Kyoto are its sea, since the city has no coast.

Kyoto Tower tickets and prices

• Adults: 1,000 yen

• High school students: 800 yen

• Elementary and junior high school students: 700 yen

• Children aged 3 to 5: 300 yen

• Under 3: free

Buy your ticket at the counter on the first floor of the Kyoto Tower building. Individual visitors cannot reserve, and entry is in order of arrival. There is no time limit once you are on the deck, but you cannot leave and come back on the same ticket. The Kyoto Tower ticket prices page lists current fares and accepted cards and mobile payments.

If you want your ticket sorted before you arrive, the Kyoto Tower deck entry pass can be booked in advance.

How to get to Kyoto Tower

The tower stands about 2 minutes on foot from the Karasuma Central Gate of JR Kyoto Station. Walk past the bus terminal and cross at the traffic light to the tower building's entrance. In bad weather, use the Porta underground shopping mall, which connects directly to the building. The tower has no parking lot of its own.

Because it sits at the city's main rail hub, the tower fits easily into an arrival day or a gap before a train. Exploring the Kyoto Station building and its own rooftop terraces takes another hour.

What you can see from the observation deck

The deck spans two levels and gives a 360-degree view of the city and the mountains that surround it on three sides. Free telescopes on the upper level help you pick out landmarks, and eight touch-screen panels identify what you are looking at.

• To-ji Temple: its five-story pagoda, at 55 meters the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan, is to the southwest

• Kiyomizu-dera: the wooden stage of the main hall is visible on the Higashiyama hillside to the east

• Nishi and Higashi Hongan-ji: the huge temple roofs just north of the station

• Higashiyama mountains: the line of 36 peaks along the east of the city

• Osaka: on very clear days, the city's skyline is visible to the southwest

Plan on 30 to 45 minutes. The deck has only one restroom, so use the facilities in the building before you go up.

What else is in the Kyoto Tower building

KYOTO TOWER SANDO, on the basement to second floors, is a complex of restaurants and souvenir shops. The Kansai Tourist Information Center is on the third floor, along with a buffet restaurant. The Kyoto Tower Hotel occupies the middle floors. For a plan that combines the tower with Kyoto's best-known food street, see this day pairing Nishiki Market with the tower.

Best time to visit Kyoto Tower

Clear days give the longest views, and late afternoon lets you see the city in daylight and then lit up after sunset. The tower itself is lit white from sunset each evening, with occasional colored light-ups for events.

Two dates are special. On January 1, the deck opens early for the first sunrise of the year. On August 16, it holds an evening viewing of the Gozan Okuribi, when giant bonfires are lit on the mountains around the city. Tickets for both are announced on the tower's event page. If you are comparing viewpoints, see Kyoto's best viewpoints from above for the alternatives.