Nature
The Hills of Kyoto: 4 Live Cameras in Japan
Kifune shrine, Jakkoin in Ohara, Jingoji in Takao and the roadside station at Keihoku. All higher than the streets, where the operators say snow settles alone.
What you can see
The four sit within Kyoto city, but away from the streets and higher up. What they share is that the operators themselves write that it is colder than the city. That gives a little-known way to watch: the weather differs inside one city.
Kifune Shrine is the lantern-lined stone stairway of the shrine in the Kurama valley. It is cooler than the city; in summer people pass on their way to the riverside platforms, and in winter snow sometimes lies here and nowhere else. Summer and winter swap what there is to see.
Jakkoin is a convent deep in the Ohara valley. Stone steps and an approach through cedar stand run on. Being away from the city and higher up, on a snowy day it turns white here alone.
Jingoji is the temple in the Takao hills, at the top of a long stairway up from the Kiyotaki river. It is known for autumn colour, and when the valley turns, the whole look of the approach changes with it. Because the colour takes the whole valley, this is where the picture changes most.
Woody Keihoku Roadside Station is a roadside station in the Keihoku hills at the northern edge of Kyoto city. It is about an hour by car from the streets, and in winter the road surface can turn white. It shows road conditions rather than a temple, so it is useful for deciding whether you can get there.
Cameras you can watch now: 4
All 4 are live video. Tap one to open it in the camera list.
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Kifune shrine
Sakyo, Kyoto · World Heritage · Nature
The lantern-lined stone stairway of a shrine set in the Kurama valley. It is cooler here than in the city: in summer people pass on their way to the riverside platforms, and in winter snow can lie here alone.
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Jakko-in temple
Sakyo, Kyoto · World Heritage · Nature
A convent deep in the village of Ohara, reached by a stone stairway through cedars. High enough above the city that on a snowy day this place alone turns white.
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Jingo-ji temple
Ukyo, Kyoto · World Heritage · Nature
A temple in the mountains of Takao, at the top of a long stone stairway from the Kiyotaki river. A noted place for autumn colour: when the valley turns, the whole approach looks different.
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Stream cover
Woody Keihoku roadside station
Ukyo, Kyoto · City · Nature
A roadside station in the hills of Keihoku, at the northern edge of Kyoto city. It is an hour by car from the centre, and in winter the road surface can turn white here.
When to watch
The operator publishes no viewing season, and we will not invent one here. Being cooler than the city, the summer riverside platforms, snow lying here alone, turning white on a snowy day, the valley's colour changing the view and the road surface turning white in winter all come from the camera descriptions. No month is given for the snow or the colour, so we set none.
All four run on Japan time. Being in valleys and among trees, they go dark earlier than the city cameras, so while the sun is high is the time to look.
All four are streamed by the Kyoto National Highway Office, the roadside station included. Fourteen streams come from one channel, so they cannot be played inside this site. The sample pictures are kept under the Public Data License (PDL1.0), which allows use when the source is named. Please open the streaming page itself.
If it isn't showing
All four also appear on the Kyoto page, filed under World Heritage and Nature.
The rest of Kyoto is split into Arashiyama and Sagano, Gion and Higashiyama, Central Kyoto and Kyoto Imperial Garden. Temple gates alone are gathered in Temple and Shrine Approaches.
To choose by snow there is First Snowcap, and by colour Autumn Leaves. The Kiyotaki river in the valley is part of The Yodo River System.
How to read the crowds is in Reading Kyoto's crowds before you go; how to tell why a screen is blank is in What is happening when a live camera shows nothing.
Where to find The Hills of Kyoto
Agencies publishing the cameras on this page
- Kyoto National Highway Office, MLIT (PDL1.0) — Official site
The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.