Kyoto Zen Meditation: Garden Tour at Tofukuji Temple

Discover Zen at Tofukuji Temple: Meditate, explore serene gardens, and savor a traditional lunch. Immerse in Kyoto’s rich Zen heritage.

Duration: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • 15-chōme-795 Honmachi - Engage in Zen meditation at one of Kyoto’s five prominent Zen temples.
    Learn the art of zazen or Zen meditation from a local expert.
    Explore the Zen garden (dry landscape garden) with insightful commentary from a guide and embrace the serenity.
    Savor traditional vegetarian cuisine that has been served by Zen monks for centuries.
What's Included
  • Sho-jin Buddhist Vegetarian Lunch
  • 4.5 hrs with a local guide
  • Lunch
  • Entrance fee of all venues we will visit
  • Zazen Meditation Experience (1hour)
  • Photos during a tour
Additional Information

What comes to mind when you think of Zen? Before engaging in Zen meditation, a local guide will lead you to a garden where you can immerse yourself in the essence of Zen.
“Zen” is an inherently esoteric Buddhist concept, even for the Japanese. While the word “Zen” may conjure thoughts of Zen meditation, this tour will initially guide you to a garden…

Location
12-chōme-232 Honmachi
Outside of Tofukuji Station EXIT 2, Next to the Family Mart [From Kyoto stn. to Tofukuji stn.] JR line:You can use both rapid trains and local trains. [From Shijyo keihan to Tofukuji station] Keihan line : You can use sub-express, semi express and local trains. Please DO NOT USE express trains.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(110 Ratings)
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2bearfans
Feb 20, 2025
Amazing and authentic experience - This may have been the most meaningful Experience I had in Kyoto. Louie was knowledgeable and insightful He provided information and context to the day. I appreciate the space to enjoy the surroundings without being pressured to move on to the next thing. The meditation was something I’ll keep going back to in my mind as a highlight of this trip. I am so glad I booked this tour
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dianarl5367gh
Feb 17, 2025
Wonderful and calming tour - This tour really exceeded my expectations! Yutaka is a great guide - it was a pleasure listening to his knowledge about Kyoto & the zen temples and gardens. He answered all my questions and was very helpful and kind. I really enjoyed this calm tour that will show you hidden gems & leave all stress behind. The meditation was unforgettable! The vegetarian lunch was delicious too - all in all an amazing experience that I can only recommend.
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660bryceh
Feb 7, 2025
A wonderful day of exploration and meditation - Yutaka, our tour guide showed us and explained several temples in Kyoto. The tour was very informative. We explored a temple and participated in a session of meditation inside a temple with a Monk. Yutaka was so warm, friendly and lots of fun. I had many amazing conversations with him. He is both very informative and inquisitive.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alfitah
Feb 7, 2025
Lovely meditation tour and so interesting - Yutaka was an awesome guide. We loved it. It is very zen and amazing tour and the zen meditation class was interesting and we loved it . A must do in Kyoto .
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562khh
Feb 2, 2025
Buddhism and mediation experience - Lovely trip if anyone would like to take a look more deeply about Kyoto Buddhism Temple. My tour guide Yutaka San know well about Kyoto traditional history and he can make u understand more about this historical city, Kyoto. The Meditation is also a very good experience to claim down and back to yourself!!
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Franciellilocatelli
Jan 22, 2025
Meditation zazen - Very friendly guide: Yutaka. The monk tore our doubts at the end. The place of several temples very special, showed photos qua of the blooming, but beautiful.
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Faraway09162435276
Jan 22, 2025
Meditation in Kyoto Tofukuji - A very happy tour with Mr Yoshida Yutaka, travelling between temples, and having a vegetarian lunch together, but the most important thing is he knows all about Japanese culture, good English and very kind to foreigners.
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Nicoco816
Jan 18, 2025
A must do - My partner and I had an absolutely lovely experience on this tour. Hikari is a GEM and an exceptional tour guide. She is a wealth of knowledge and taught us SO much on this tour. She was inviting, warm and made us feel so comfortable the entire tour. We also loved our zen meditation experience. We felt truly so lucky to be able to participate. Lastly, the meal at the end of the tour was delicious. It was very flavorful, fresh and different than anything we might be able to find on our own as tourists. This was an incredible experience overall and an absolute highlight of our trip, mainly because of Hikari. This tour should not be missed and we can’t recommend it enough!!
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Navigate47331963836
Jan 11, 2025
Great Zen experience - Ari was really good and brought me to places I wouldn’t have gone to if I was visiting alone. The views were great and I had a great zen session.
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Bethany
Jan 10, 2025
Wonderful! Would 1000% recommend - Hikari was an excellent tour guide!! We had such a wonderful time exploring the temples and learning about the history of each one. The meditation was also incredible and the lunch was absolutely delicious! Would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kyoto :)
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