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Hokokuji Bamboo Temple, Kamakura: Entrance Fee, Matcha Ticket, Hours and the Bus from Kamakura Station (2026)

Updated 2026-10-13

The time that matters at Hokokuji is 15:30, not the 16:00 closing time. That's when the reception stops selling the ¥600 matcha ticket, and the matcha is the reason to sit down in the bamboo garden instead of walking through it in a few minutes. Entry to the garden is ¥400 for high school age and up and ¥200 for elementary and junior high students. Hokokuji is in the quiet east of Kamakura, away from the Great Buddha and the station crowds: take the Keikyu Bus from stop 4 at Kamakura Station's East Exit, ride about 12 minutes to Jomyoji, then walk 3 minutes. The temple's own pages, in Japanese and English, are the source for every figure here, read on 2026-10-13.

Route strip from Kamakura Station East Exit, Keikyu Bus stop 4, about 12 minutes by bus to the Jomyoji bus stop, then 3 minutes on foot to the Hokokuji gate, the reception, the bamboo garden and the Kyukoan tea house; taxi about 7 minutes. Time bars: garden open 9:00 to 16:00, matcha tickets sold 9:00 to 15:30. Tickets: garden 400 yen for high school age and up, 200 yen for elementary and junior high, matcha with a dry sweet 600 yen; closed 29 December to 3 January.
Get off at Jomyoji, not at a stop called Hokokuji (there isn't one). The matcha window shuts half an hour before the garden does.

Entrance fee and the matcha ticket

Ticket Price Who
Bamboo garden ¥400 high school students and older
Bamboo garden ¥200 elementary and junior high school students
Matcha with a dry sweet (Kyukoan tea house) ¥600 per serving, on top of the garden ticket

Both tickets are sold at the same reception desk at the garden entrance. The temple's FAQ spells out the order: pay the garden fee, then buy the matcha ticket there too, before you go in. The matcha ticket is sold until 15:30, and the temple warns that it may pause matcha ticket sales when the garden is crowded. The official pages don't list a price for preschool children or any group discount, so plan on the figures above. What you pay for is the bamboo garden, and the tea house sits inside it.

Hours and closed days

Time
Bamboo garden (reception) 9:00–16:00
Matcha ticket sales 9:00–15:30
Closed 29 December – 3 January, and in bad weather

Of the five temples in our Kamakura temple fees calculator, Hokokuji has the earliest closing time. The Great Buddha takes people in until 16:45 in winter; Hokokuji's reception shuts at 16:00. So the order for a Kamakura day is fixed: Hokokuji in the morning, the Great Buddha and Hasedera in the afternoon. The Kamakura day trip itinerary is built that way.

Is the matcha worth ¥600?

Yes, and buy it even if you don't usually drink matcha. The garden is small, and without the tea you'll be back at the gate quickly. The ¥600 buys a seat at the Kyukoan tea house inside the garden, with a bowl of matcha and a dry sweet (higashi). It turns a quick look into a proper stop, and the whole visit still comes to ¥1,000 per adult.

One thing to know before you commit: when the garden is crowded, the temple can stop issuing matcha tickets altogether. That is a second reason to come in the morning.

How to get there

By Keikyu Bus from Kamakura Station (the usual way)

We're not quoting the bus fare, because none of the official pages we checked state it. Pay on board.

From Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

The same buses stop near the shrine. The prefecture's model course allows about 10 minutes by bus from Hachimangu to Hokokuji, which is why the shrine and the bamboo garden pair well in one morning.

By taxi

About 7 minutes from the East Exit, says the temple. Worth it for a group of three or four, or if the bus queue at stop 4 is long.

Walking

Hokokuji lists only bus and taxi, and gives no walking time from the station, so we don't either. It's well beyond the Great Buddha side of town. If you'd rather arrive on foot, the Tenen hiking course comes down near Zuisenji, in the same part of Kamakura; see Kamakura hiking trails.

Parking

The temple has a small car park and says that when it's full you should use a paid car park nearby. On weekends, assume it's full.

Rules inside the garden

The temple's English page lists them under "For Your Attention":

One rule for the goshuin desk: don't photograph the person writing, and don't ask for a particular writer.

Goshuin

Hokokuji mainly gives the goshuin of Sho Kannon, as a temple of the Kamakura 33 Kannon pilgrimage. The official page doesn't list the price or the hours of the desk, so ask at the reception.

What you're looking at

Hokokuji was founded in 1334 (the first year of Kenmu). The founding priest was Tengan Eko, and the temple was built by Uesugi Shigekane to mourn Ashikaga Ietoki, grandfather of Ashikaga Takauji, the first Ashikaga shogun. It belongs to the Rinzai Zen school, Kenchoji branch. The bamboo in the garden is moso bamboo.

Behind the garden are yagura, the horizontal cave tombs you see across Kamakura. Tradition says these hold the graves of Ashikaga Ietoki and of Yoshihisa, eldest son of the fourth Kamakura kubo Ashikaga Mochiuji, who died here by his own hand in 1438 during the Eikyo Rebellion. The seated Shaka Nyorai in the main hall is a Kamakura City designated cultural property.

Here's our one piece of interpretation: Hokokuji's garden is small and the hours are short, and that's exactly why it works. Go at 9:00 on a weekday and the bamboo is quiet in a way the Great Buddha never is.

Tours that stop at the bamboo garden

PR Affiliate links (disclosure): booking through them supports this site at no extra cost. Check whether the tour price includes the ¥400 garden entry and the ¥600 matcha before you book.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to book Hokokuji in advance?

No. The temple takes no reservations, not even for groups. It also says that groups may be turned away depending on how busy the garden is, so a large party should come early on a weekday.

Can I join the zazen meditation at Hokokuji?

The temple holds a zazen meeting every Sunday morning from 7:30 to 9:15, before the garden opens. Details are on the temple's zazen page; check it before you go, because the rules for first-time visitors are set by the temple.

Is there a bus stop called Hokokuji?

No. The stop is Jomyoji, the name of the neighbourhood (the temple's address is Jomyoji 2-7-4, Kamakura). From there it's a 3-minute walk to Hokokuji's gate.

Official sources (checked 2026-10-13)

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