Philosopher's Walk Tickets & Tours

The Philosopher's Walk is a pedestrian path that follows a cherry-tree-lined canal in Kyoto, Japan between Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji. First opened in 1890 and extended again in 1912, the path follows the course of a shallow irrigation channel bringing water from the Lake Biwa Canal. The route is so-named because two 20th-century Japanese philosophers and Kyoto University professors Nishida Kitaro and Hajime Tanabe are thought to have used it for daily exercise. The path passes a number of temples and shrines such as Hōnen-in, Ōtoyo Shrine, and Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji.