A curated guide to 6 of Uji's most-visited attractions — tickets, opening hours and visitor tips for each, verified for 2026.
Uji is the easiest tea-and-temple day trip from Kyoto — just 17 minutes south on the JR Nara Line, yet home to two UNESCO World Heritage sites and Japan's most prestigious matcha. The Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in graces the 10-yen coin, the riverside is the setting of the final chapters of The Tale of Genji, and historic tea houses line the approach streets. The attractions below each link to a full visitor guide with verified hours, costs, and the practical tips the official sites leave out.
Byodo-in is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, housing the Phoenix Hall (Hoodo) — a Heian-era Pure Land Buddhist masterpiece built in 1053 whose reflection in the Aji-ike pond is reproduced on Japan's 10-yen coin. The hall enshrines the gilded Amida Nyorai by sculptor Jocho and 52 cloud-riding bodhisattvas. The adjacent Hoshokan museum preserves the original bronze phoenixes, ancient bell, and bodhisattva panels.
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Uji Bridge (Ujibashi) is one of Japan's three most celebrated ancient bridges, first built in 646 CE and spanning the Uji River in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. The 1996 reconstruction in traditional style connects the west bank (Byōdō-in, Byobugaura) with the east bank (Ujigami Shrine, Tale of Genji Museum). A statue of Murasaki Shikibu stands at its eastern end; the upstream Sanno-ma alcove historically provided sacred tea-ceremony water. Free to cross, open 24/7.
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Ujigami Shrine in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, is home to Japan's oldest surviving Shinto shrine building — a honden dated to around 1060 in the late Heian period, built in nagare-zukuri style and sheltering three inner sanctuaries dedicated to Uji-no-Wakiiratsuko. The honden and haiden are both National Treasures; the site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. Entry to the grounds is free.
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The Tale of Genji Museum (Genji Monogatari Museum) in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, is dedicated to the Uji Jujo — the ten concluding chapters of Murasaki Shikibu's 11th-century masterpiece set in Uji. Opened in 1998 on the east bank of the Uji River, it features recreated Heian-era interiors, a full-size ox-carriage (gissha), and a short film on the Uji chapters.
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Nakamura Tōkichi Honten is a historic Uji tea merchant founded in 1854, located on Byobugaura near JR Uji Station and the approach to Byōdō-in. The honten sells stone-ground Uji matcha and gyokuro and operates a celebrated café salon known for its nama-cha jelly parfait and matcha soba. Entry to the shop is free; café items are priced at approximately ¥800–¥1,500.
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Mimuroto-ji is a Shingon-sect mountain temple in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, renowned as a hana no tera (flower temple) for its seasonal bloom calendar: approximately 20,000 azaleas in late spring, 10,000 hydrangeas with evening light-ups in early summer, lotus pots in midsummer, and autumn maples in November. The temple is the tenth station on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage and houses a three-storied pagoda, a nade-ushi bull statue, and rabbit and snake fortune figures.
Visitor guide →Uji's sights cluster on both banks of the Uji River, a short walk apart between JR Uji and Keihan Uji stations. Pair Byodo-in and a matcha tasting on the west bank with Ujigami Shrine and the Tale of Genji trail on the east bank for an easy half-day; add Mimurotoji in June for the hydrangeas. For transport, timing and a full itinerary see our guide to things to do in Uji, and pair it with nearby Kyoto.
