We came here for the special autumn nighttime illuminations. It was a bit expensive (¥1000 each) but totally worth it. Not only did we get to wander around the delight that is Toji temple grounds and pagoda wonderfully lit up in the dark, we also got to see the treasures in both halls which were low lit and magical (no photos allowed). It was really serene sitting there gazing at bronze artefacts, which are hundreds of years old, in peace and quiet. It was a really memorable experience.

A huge temple with Musashi Miyamoto’s paintings. My husband and I walked for 16 minutes from our hotel near Kyoto Station in December. They had several old cherry blossom trees. It must be great if you visited during cherry blossoms season. You need a combo ticket to see the paintings, 800 yen each. They had beautiful gardens. We sat there to see the gardens and wished we had maccha tea there.

I visited Toji mainly to see the Pagoda and ended up spending at least an hour at this temple complex. I enjoyed visiting the inside of the temples and seeing the artifacts on display. The Pagoda is beautiful for sure. You can get awesome photos of the Pagoda at the pond.

Toji is really beautiful and a fantastic example of a traditional five storied pagoda (it's also the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan). The grounds are pretty and tranquil and there are lots of heron around. We arrived at the end of the day just before the site closed and it was very quiet - it was nice to see it without hoards of people.

I was here before the hanami, but early sakura already made this a great place. The pagoda was open (which is unusual) and it's a wonderful place inside, as are the two main halls and their gorgeous and powerful effigies of the Buddha (this is a Buddhist temple, not a Shinto shrine, but all is of course a bit shintoized). Superb shop with excellent trinkets, amulets, and other items. Not least, this is a genuine spiritual power center with a strong atmosphere, much more than say the Golden Temple or Fushimi Inari, great as they are, or literally anything in Nara. A must see indeed.

Our hotel was across the street from this temple. We were so close to it that we kept thinking we would stop by but ran out of time . Now, that I have read more about it, I wished we had visited. The tall shrine was impressive. One evening as we were walking to the nearby mall, many locals were headed toward the illumination of the temple. That might have been quite the sight.

This temple was interesting but can't compare with Todai-ji in Nara or the other temples we saw in Japan. Some buildings are closed for visitors. Probably the best feature is the great pagoda, which is currently the tallest in Japan. Also, every last Sunday of the month there's an antique market happening on the temple grounds.