How much is Eiheiji and what are the opening hours?

Admission is ¥700 for adults and ¥300 for elementary and junior high pupils; children before school age are free. The temple is open 8:30 to 16:30 every day except 1 January, and asks you to arrive by 16:00. Halls may close for rites without notice.

How do I get to Eiheiji from Fukui Station?

Take the Eiheiji Liner from the East Exit, stand 1: about 30 minutes to Eiheiji-monzen, then 5 minutes on foot. The fare is ¥1,000 since 1 October 2026. The alternative is the Echizen Railway to Eiheiji-guchi (25 minutes, ¥490) and a Keifuku bus (about 13 minutes).

Can tourists try zazen at Eiheiji?

The temple’s Japanese page lists a walk-in session at 10:00, 13:30 and 15:30 (about 50 minutes), but its English page says the Sanzen programme for international visitors is suspended through autumn 2026. Ask at reception (0776-63-3102) first. Overnight zazen needs a booking on 0776-63-4361.

How long do you need at Eiheiji?

About 1 to 1.5 hours for the halls and corridors, a little more with a meal at the gate. Combine it with a dinosaur museum afternoon or Ichijōdani for a full day.

Can you take photographs inside Eiheiji?

You may photograph the buildings, but not the monks or priests, and you must stay on the wooden corridors and out of the gardens. Be quiet near the zazen, lecture and ceremony halls.

When are the autumn leaves at Eiheiji?

Colour peaks from late October to mid-November. That is also when the Eiheiji Liner fills on weekends, so take an early bus.

Eiheiji Temple, Fukui: ¥700, Hours, Zazen, Access

Eiheiji大本山永平寺

A working Zen monastery of more than 70 buildings, joined by covered wooden corridors up a cedar hillside. ¥700, open every day but 1 January, 30 minutes from Fukui Station by bus.

Admission ¥700 Founded 1244 Fukui 30 min by bus

	Eiheiji (永平寺)
Admission	¥700 adults; ¥300 elementary and junior high, and with a disability certificate; free before school age
Hours	8:30–16:30, arrive by 16:00. Open every day except 1 January; halls can close for rites without notice
Booking	None for a visit. Overnight zazen needs a booking; day zazen and the morning service need a word at reception (see below)
From Fukui Station	Eiheiji Liner from East Exit stand 1: about 30 min, ¥1,000. Or Echizen Railway to Eiheiji-guchi (25 min, ¥490) plus a bus (about 13 min)
Time needed	1–1.5 hours for the halls; half a day with a meal at the gate
Photography	Monks and priests must not be photographed. Stay on the wooden corridors and out of the gardens
Best time	Early on a weekday. Leaves late October to mid-November (queues for the Liner); snow December to March
Where to find help	Reception 0776-63-3102; training office (overnight zazen) 0776-63-4361

Eiheiji (永平寺)

Admission

¥700 adults; ¥300 elementary and junior high, and with a disability certificate; free before school age

Hours

8:30–16:30, arrive by 16:00. Open every day except 1 January; halls can close for rites without notice

Booking

None for a visit. Overnight zazen needs a booking; day zazen and the morning service need a word at reception (see below)

From Fukui Station

Eiheiji Liner from East Exit stand 1: about 30 min, ¥1,000. Or Echizen Railway to Eiheiji-guchi (25 min, ¥490) plus a bus (about 13 min)

Time needed

1–1.5 hours for the halls; half a day with a meal at the gate

Photography

Monks and priests must not be photographed. Stay on the wooden corridors and out of the gardens

Best time

Early on a weekday. Leaves late October to mid-November (queues for the Liner); snow December to March

Where to find help

Reception 0776-63-3102; training office (overnight zazen) 0776-63-4361

The gate and the cedar hillside山門

Foot of the complex · mountain gate

The Sanmon (山門) is the mountain gate, with statues of the Four Heavenly Kings inside. Behind it the temple climbs the cedar hillside in tiers: about 330,000 m² of mountain, more than 70 buildings, 19 of them Important Cultural Properties.

Dōgen (道元) founded it in 1244 after bringing Sōtō Zen back from China; it took the name Eiheiji in 1246. With Sōjiji it is one of Sōtō Zen’s two head temples.

Founded

1244

Buildings

70+

Grounds

330,000 m²

The covered corridors回廊

Between the halls · shoes off

Roofed wooden corridors with long stairways join the halls, and you follow them in your socks after leaving your shoes at the entrance. It is the image most people come for: dark timber, light through the lattice windows, and nobody hurrying.

The temple’s rules are short: keep left, stay on the wooden corridors, do not step into the gardens and do not touch the bells, drums or altar items.

Route

One way, marked

Shoes

Off at entrance

Keep

Left

The Buddha Hall and the Dharma Hall仏殿・法堂

Middle of the route

The Butsuden (仏殿, Buddha Hall) dates from 1902 and the Hattō (法堂, Dharma Hall), where the abbot lectures and the main ceremonies are held, from 1842. Both stand on stone-walled terraces with moss and pines below them.

Halls can close for a rite without notice; if one does, the route usually carries on past it.

Butsuden

1902

Hattō

1842

Closures

For rites

堂Image to follow

Photo · awaiting commission2400 × 1350

The painted ceiling of the Sanshōkaku hall at Eiheiji

Photograph to commissioncredit on supply

The monks’ hall and the painted ceiling僧堂・傘松閣

Upper route · quiet please

The Sōdō (僧堂, monks’ hall, 1901) is where the monks sit zazen, eat and sleep, each on about one tatami mat. You look in from the corridor and keep silent. The temple says more than a hundred monks train here.

The Sanshōkaku (傘松閣, 1930) is a hall of 156 tatami whose ceiling is painted by 144 artists: birds, flowers and landscapes, one panel each.

Sōdō

1901

Sanshōkaku

156 tatami

Ceiling

144 artists

Route	Details	Time	Fare
Eiheiji Liner (Keifuku bus)	Fukui Station East Exit, stand 1, to Eiheiji-monzen at the gate; then a 5 minute walk. Hourly at :50 (9:50–14:50 on the timetable I checked), plus an 8:40 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 1 October 2026. First come, first served	30 min	¥1,000 (child ¥500)
Echizen Railway + bus	Echizen Railway Katsuyama-Eiheiji Line to Eiheiji-guchi, then a Keifuku bus for Eiheiji-monzen	25 min + 13 min	¥490 + bus
Asakura–Eiheiji Direct Bus	Links Fukui Station East Exit, the Ichijōdani Asakura ruins and Eiheiji; fare revised with the Liner on 1 October 2026	Check timetable	As Liner
From Awara-Onsen Station	Keifuku route 86 via Maruoka Castle runs on Sundays and holidays on the timetable I checked; use a taxi or go via Fukui on other days	About 1 h	Not checked
Car	Eiheiji-sandō IC on the Chūbu-Jūkan Expressway is about 10 minutes away; coin parking beside Hanshaku-bashi bridge	30 min from Fukui	Parking fee
Keifuku day passes	Asakura & Eiheiji 1-day pass ¥2,000 (child ¥1,000); Eiheiji, Maruoka Castle & Tōjinbō 2-day pass ¥2,600 (child ¥1,300), both from 1 October 2026	–	See left

Route

Details

Time

Fare

Eiheiji Liner (Keifuku bus)

Fukui Station East Exit, stand 1, to Eiheiji-monzen at the gate; then a 5 minute walk. Hourly at :50 (9:50–14:50 on the timetable I checked), plus an 8:40 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 1 October 2026. First come, first served

30 min

¥1,000 (child ¥500)

Echizen Railway + bus

Echizen Railway Katsuyama-Eiheiji Line to Eiheiji-guchi, then a Keifuku bus for Eiheiji-monzen

25 min + 13 min

¥490 + bus

Asakura–Eiheiji Direct Bus

Links Fukui Station East Exit, the Ichijōdani Asakura ruins and Eiheiji; fare revised with the Liner on 1 October 2026

Check timetable

As Liner

From Awara-Onsen Station

Keifuku route 86 via Maruoka Castle runs on Sundays and holidays on the timetable I checked; use a taxi or go via Fukui on other days

About 1 h

Not checked

Car

Eiheiji-sandō IC on the Chūbu-Jūkan Expressway is about 10 minutes away; coin parking beside Hanshaku-bashi bridge

30 min from Fukui

Parking fee

Keifuku day passes

Asakura & Eiheiji 1-day pass ¥2,000 (child ¥1,000); Eiheiji, Maruoka Castle & Tōjinbō 2-day pass ¥2,600 (child ¥1,300), both from 1 October 2026

–

See left

Eiheiji大本山永平寺

Eiheiji in numbers

Four stops on the route

The gate and the cedar hillside山門

The covered corridors回廊

The Buddha Hall and the Dharma Hall仏殿・法堂

The monks’ hall and the painted ceiling僧堂・傘松閣

From Fukui Station and from Awara-Onsen

Before you go

Eiheiji questions, answered

At the gate, or in Fukui

Hakujukan

Onyado Nono Fukui

Courtyard by Marriott Fukui

More in Fukui

More in Fukui

Carry on along the Hokuriku Shinkansen

Eiheiji大本山永平寺

Eiheiji in numbers

Four stops on the route

The gate and the cedar hillside山門

The covered corridors回廊

The Buddha Hall and the Dharma Hall仏殿・法堂

The monks’ hall and the painted ceiling僧堂・傘松閣

Zazen, the morning service and the overnight stay

Day zazen

Morning service (朝課)

Overnight zazen (一泊参禅)

Hakujukan, at the gate

From Fukui Station and from Awara-Onsen

Before you go

What fits the same day

Dinosaur Museum, Katsuyama

Heisen-ji, Katsuyama

Maruoka Castle

Ichijōdani

Where to eat

Eiheiji questions, answered

At the gate, or in Fukui

Hakujukan

Onyado Nono Fukui

Courtyard by Marriott Fukui

More in Fukui

More in Fukui

Carry on along the Hokuriku Shinkansen