Philosopher's Walk

The Philosopher's Walk (Tetsugaku-no-michi) is a stone footpath of about 1.5 km that follows a narrow branch of the Lake Biwa Canal along the foot of Kyoto's eastern hills, from the Ginkakuji bridge near the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji) south to the Nyakuōji bridge towards Nanzen-ji. There is nothing grand about it: a shallow channel of clear water, small bridges leading to private houses and tiny temples, moss on the stones, and a double row of trees leaning over the canal. That understatement is exactly its charm.

The path was created in 1890 as a service road when the canal, which brought water from Lake Biwa to Kyoto, was completed; it was extended in 1912. Two Kyoto University philosophers, Nishida Kitarō and Tanabe Hajime, are said to have walked it daily while working through their ideas, and the path went through several informal names in their honour before the present one was fixed in 1972. The cherry trees that make it famous have a story of their own: in 1921 Yone, the wife of the Nihonga painter Hashimoto Kansetsu, whose villa stood nearby, gave the city 300 saplings, and the older trees along the canal are still known as Kansetsu-zakura. In 1987 the walk was chosen as one of Japan's 100 best roads.

In early April the canal is roofed with blossom and, as the petals fall, carpeted with it; in autumn the temple gardens on the hillside take over. Detours up the side lanes are the real reward: a dozen temples and shrines lie just off the canal, among them Hōnen-in, Anraku-ji, Eikan-dō and the small Ōtoyo Shrine. From the northern end there are views across to the Daimonji mountain. Walked straight through, the path takes about half an hour; most people take much longer.

Getting there

The path lies in eastern Kyoto, about 3.6 km from Kamigyō ward in the centre of the city. The nearest airport is Osaka Itami (ITM), about 42 km away. City buses stop at Ginkakuji-michi near the northern end and at Miyanomachi near the southern end; from there it is a short walk to the canal.