June is a wonderful time to visit Kyoto. The springtime crowds have departed, the heat of summer has yet to set in, and the green of the trees is still fresh and beautiful. Best of all, there are plenty of special events.
Kifune Shrine
1 June 2025
Event: “Garakuta-ichi,” To-ji Temple Flea Market
Location: To-ji Temple
Time: 7:00am-4:30pm
Admission: Free
If you can’t be in town for Kyoto’s two famous flea markets (Kobo-san Market and Tenjin-san Market), this is a good choice. Like the Kobo-san Market, it’s held on the grounds of To-ji Temple. You’ll usually find a good selection of antiques at this market.
1-15 June 2025
Event: Special Exhibition Commemorating Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Japan, an Artistic Melting Pot
Location: Kyoto National Museum, Heisei Chishinkan Wing
Time: 9:00am–5:30pm (entrance until 5:00pm); Fridays, 9:00am–8:00pm (Entrance until 7:30pm)
Admission: ¥700
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Japan has a reputation for being a bit of a Galapagos, but there has always been — to a greater or lesser extent over time — a rich history of intercultural and international exchange throughout history. It’s precisely this dynamic cultural exchange that’s at the heart of this special art exhibition organised by the Kyoto National Museum to commemorate the World Expo in Osaka. Featuring paintings, sculptures, calligraphic works, and decorative arts across a millennia or several, it’s a timely reminder that no nation, even an island nation, is truly an island (in the metaphorical sense, anyway).
1 June-7 September 2025
Event: Yayoi Kusama Print Works: Repetition & Proliferation
Location: Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art
Time: 10:00am-6:00pm
Admission: ¥2200 (Concessions available)
Website: Official website (English)
Even if you’ve never heard the name “Yayoi Kusama,” you’ll probably have seen the avant-garde artist’s distinctive polka dots and net patterns somewhere, whether it’s on a sculpture or a Louis Vuitton bag. This exhibition at the Kyocera Museum of Art will showcase a selection of her prints — woodblock, silkscreen, and others — from the artist’s own collection as well as that of the Matsumoto City Museum of Art, which has the largest collection of Kusama prints in the world. Unmissable for Kusama fans.
1 June 2025
Event: Kifune Matsuri
Location: Kifune-jinja Shrine
Time: 11:00am-around 4:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
Held in the ultra-quaint village of Kibune in the mountains north of Kyoto, this festival is a wonderful chance to experience a true Shinto festival. The events center on Kibune-jinja Shrine, in the middle of the village. For a full schedule of events and some pictures, visit the Facebook page of the festival (it’s in Japanese but you can use your browser to translate it and get a pretty good idea of what’s going on). If you have the energy, consider approaching from Kurama: take the Eizan Line to the last stop, Kurama, and walk over the mountain and down into Kibune.
1-2 June 2025
Event: Kyoto Takigi Noh
Location: Heian-jingu Shrine
Time: Open at 5:00pm (Starts at 6:00pm)
Admission: ¥5000 (on the door)
Website: Official website (Japanese)
With bizarre masks, haunting music, impenetrable words and colorful costumes, any performance of Noh is memorable. But performed by firelight it’s truly otherworldly. Your best chance to see such a performance is on 1 and 2 June, when Takigi (Firelight) Noh is held at Kyoto’s Heian-jingu Shrine. Note that photography is not permitted during the performances. Also, in the case of rain, the performances will be postponed until the next clear evening.
7 June 2025 (To be confirmed)
Event: Special Opening (Shin’en garden)
Location: Heian-jingu Shrine
Time: 8:30am-4:30pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
You normally have to pay to enter the Shin’en Garden here at Heian-jingu Shrine, but during this special opening held on 8 June, you can enter for free. The event is held to coincide with the blooming of the garden’s wonderful irises, hydrangeas and water lilies. Don’t miss it if you find yourself in Northern Higashiyama on this day.
7 June-6 July 2025
Event: Ajisai Matsuri
Location: Sanzen-in Temple
Time: 8:30am-5:00pm
Admission: ¥700
If you feel like a trip out of the city, there are few better destinations than the village of Ohara, which is a mere 30 minutes north of Kyoto by bus. And if you ever needed a good excuse to make the trip, the Ajisai (hydrangea) Matsuri is it. Held at the superb temple of Sanzen-in, a short walk uphill from the bus stop in Ohara, the Ajisai Matsuri showcases the myriad hydrangeas that bloom in the temple’s wonderful garden.
10 June 2025
Event: Tauesai
Location: Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine
Time: Starts at 1:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
The spectacular Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine honors the god Inari, who is god of the rice harvest and commerce. The Tauesai festival involves a ritual planting of rice in a sacred rice paddy at the shrine. Seeing this festival gives an insight into just how important the humble rice plant has been in the evolution of Japan. It’s also a great chance to visit this incredible shrine.
15 June 2025
Event: Chion-ji Temple Handicraft Market
Location: Hyakumanben Chion-ji Temple
Time: 8:00am-4:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (Japanese)
Chion-ji Temple hosts a fabulous handicraft market on the 15th of every month. It’s a great place to pick up unique, locally made souvenirs during your travels to Kyoto. It’s also a good chance to see Japan’s alternative community and local expats.
21 June 2025
Event: Kobo-san Market
Location: To-ji Temple
Time: 8:00am-4:00pm
Admission: Free
Named for Japan’s most revered Buddhist Saint, Kobo Daishi, this market is one of the two best markets in town (the other being the Tenjin-san Market, held on the 25th). You’ll find all manner of goods on sale here including used kimono, antiques, ceramics, food, bric-a-brac, old postcards and books, and assorted Japanalia. In addition to being a great market, this is also a chance to see Kyoto’s foreign community, which turns out in full, along with hordes of locals.
25 June 2025
Event: Tenjin-san Market
Location: Kitano Tenmangu
Time: 6:00am-4:00pm
Admission: Free
Like the Kobo-san market (see previous), this is one of the two best markets in town. It’s named for Sugawara no Michizane, a 9th century poet and scholar who is the patron saint of academic pursuits in Japan. Known colloquially as Tenjin-san, the market is a great excuse to visit this shrine and see people, especially school children, rubbing the two stone bulls in front of the main hall of the shrine (doing so is said to make one more intelligent).
Like the Kobo-san market, this is a great chance to buy used kimono, ceramics, antiques and bric-a-brac, along with food and drink. You’ll also rub shoulders with an interesting assortment of expats and locals.
27-30 June 2025 (To be confirmed)
Event: Kyoto Grand Antique Fair
Location: Kyoto Pulse Plaza
Time: 10:00am-5:00pm (finish at 4:00pm on the last day)
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
This is the mother of all Japanese antiques and art fairs. Held at the Pulse Plaza event hall in the southern Kyoto suburb of Takeda (on the Karasuma subway line), it brings together some of the country’s best dealers and eager crowds of collectors. If you’re in the market for Japanese arts, crafts, collectibles and crafts, don’t miss this. But, don’t expect bargains – this is no flea market! On the days of the fair, there is a free shuttle bus from outside Takeda Station to the event hall. See our Pulse Plaza Antiques Grand Fair page for more details.
30 June 2025
Event: Oharae: Great Purification
Location: Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
Time: 4:00pm
Admission: Free
Website: Official website (English)
Much like spring-cleaning, humans also need to regularly clear out the cobwebs in our personal closets. One of the forms this takes in Japan is the Oharae, or the Great Purification Ceremony, an ancient ritual conducted twice annually at Shinto shrines across the nation. It takes place on 30 June (known as Nagoshi no Oharae, for the summer), and again on 31 December (when it’s known as Toshikoshi no harae, to herald the coming new year). Priests recite the prayers of purification, and cleanse you of your sins with a wand and pieces of white paper. If you’re feeling a little sinful, reeling from the after-effects of Mercury retrograde, or just want to rid yourself of some bad juju, it wouldn’t hurt to take a gander at this.
It’s free and open to all at most shrines. At 5 metres tall, Kitano Tenmangu’s chinowa (large ring of interwoven grasses) is perhaps the largest in Kyoto. Other shrines worth checking out for this event include Kifune Shrine (3:00pm start), Nonomiya Shrine (3:00pm start), and Kamigamo Shrine (activities begin at 10:00am).
Kyoto Vacation Checklist
- For all the essentials in a brief overview, see my First Time In Kyoto guide
- Check Kyoto accommodation availability on Booking.com and Agoda.com - often you can book with no upfront payment and free cancellation
- You can buy shinkansen (bullet train) tickets online from Klook - popular routes include Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Osaka and Kyoto to Tokyo
- Need tips on where to stay? See my one page guide Where To Stay In Kyoto
- See my comprehensive Packing List For Japan
- You can buy an eSim to activate in Japan or buy a data-only SIM card online for collection when you arrive at Tokyo's Narita or Haneda Airports or Kansai International Airport. You can also rent an unlimited data pocket wifi router
- Compare Japan flight prices and timings to find the best deals
- If you're making frequent train journeys during your visit, you might save money with Japan Rail Pass – see if it's worth it for you
- World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while traveling and claim online from anywhere in the world
- Do you want help planning your trip? Chris Rowthorn and his team of Japan experts at Japan Travel Consulting can help
