ZEN NIGHT Tofukuji
ZEN NIGHT 東福寺
ZEN NIGHT Tofukuji illuminates a great Kyoto Zen temple's green maples, with rare evening access to Tsutenkyo and the Great Shoin.
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ZEN NIGHT Tofukuji is a special nighttime viewing event held at Tofukuji, one of Kyoto's great Zen temples, where the temple's celebrated maples are illuminated after dark and paired with an original soundscape. The event is co-organised by VIE Inc. and Nikkei Inc., with the cooperation of Tofukuji, head temple of the Tofukuji branch of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism.
Green Maples and "Neuro-Music"
Tofukuji is best known for its sea of maples around the Tsutenkyo (the "Bridge to Heaven") and the Sengyokukan ravine below – a view that draws large crowds each autumn. ZEN NIGHT instead centers on the aomomiji, the vivid green maple leaves of late spring and summer, lit up against the night.
What sets the event apart is its sound design. VIE, a neurotechnology company, plays its own "neuro-music" – music reconstructed with the aim of calming and settling the mind – through the grounds. On the approach to Tsutenkyo, the experience is extended through a collaboration with Panasonic's "Sound Gradient" technology, so that visitors walking the maple-lined corridor pass through shifting, almost invisible "boundaries of sound".
Special Areas
The event also opens spaces not usually accessible to evening visitors:
Special Observation Deck (Tsutendai): A purpose-built viewing platform offering a sweeping look across the green maples of the Sengyokukan ravine toward the illuminated Tsutenkyo bridge.
Great Shoin (JR Special Rest Area): The Great Shoin – a large formal hall normally closed to the public – is opened as a quiet lounge. It is fitted with a premium Audio-Technica "Hotaru" record player, with VIE's "ZEN NIGHT: Neuro-Music Compilation" playing, creating a calm space to rest.
These two areas are connected to a tie-in with JR Central's "Yes, Let's Go to Kyoto". summer campaign ("Greenery Edition"), and access to them is offered through the railway's reservation services.
Admission ticket prices differ between weekdays and weekends.
