This temple is absolutely amazing, but it is not so baby-friendly! Here are my tips to enjoy with your baby, so that you can visit this stunning temple with the least stress and the most fun!

Details:

• Name: Toji Temple
• Location: 5min taxi from Kyoto Station
• Opening times: Open all year round, 5 am- 5 pm (the ice-cream shop opens at 8am)
• Cost: The cost for entry depends on the season. See the website for details.
• 5-story Pagoda: The 5-story Pagoda is really amazing. It is approximately 55 meters tall. The current tower was rebuilt in 1644. It is the tallest five-storied pagoda in Japan! The first floor of the pagoda is open to the public at specific times of the year, such as New Year, Spring and Autumn. Check the website for details.
• Tips: I recommend to enjoy strolling the garden around the temple. The cherry blossom trees are beautiful, and there is a lovely pond in the middle. If you get the full ticket, you can go inside the museum buildings to see the sculptures. It is dark and quiet inside, so I only took my kids inside for about 2min.
• Diaper changing table?: Unfortunately there is no diaper changing table. I asked the staff at the ticket office, but they said they don’t have one. (you will need to change diapers in the area outside the toilet, or in your stroller if you have one. See the photo below of the toilet area.) Another option is to change diapers at Kyoto Station before you go to the temple.
• Nursing room: No
• Stroller-friendly?: it is possible to push your stroller along the paved path to the temple, however the temple grounds are surrounded by small pebbles so it may be difficult to push your stroller on the pebbles depending on the type of stroller you have. If you have a stroller with big air-filled tires, I think it will be fine. But if you have an umbrella stroller, it might be easier to leave your stroller at the ticket office (which is what I did) and walk through the temple grounds carrying your baby. If you have children, they are free to run and play in the grounds.
• Website
• Google map link

See the photos below for more details.

This is the entrance to the temple. There are stairs, so if you have a stroller you can go through the carpark entrance.

The 5-story pagoda is really stunning. It is an extremely dark tower, which gives an amazing contrast to the surrounding garden and cherry blossoms!

The garden around the temple is like a magical secret garden! So beautiful. Make sure you enjoy walking around. The garden is one of the main highlights!

The pond is a famous photo spot!

Amazing 5-story pagoda! So dark! I love the contrast with the pink cherry blossoms:)

Lots of smiles! My kids really enjoyed running freely around the garden.

The little ice-cream shop at the entrance is really cute! After we saw the temple and played in the gardens, we enjoyed eating ice-cream and I got the tea set with Japanese sweet.

This is the tiny toilet inside the Toji Temple garden. There are Japanese-style toilets, and a little sink outside. There isn’t a diaper changing table, but it is in a private area of the garden, so it is possible to change on the ground outside (if you use a diaper changing mat), or you could change diapers in your stroller if you have one.

This is a close-up of the toilet. As you can see the toilets are Japanese style! The plus is it is open and airy, with trees outside. So it looks old, but it wasn’t too bad 🙂