Following the darumas - a visit to the katsuo-ji temple
First day in Japan, first thing to visit.
We had been planning this trip for months and for one reason or the other, we ended up making Osaka our first stop.
And once we fixed that on our itinerary, we more or less isntantly knew what would be our first place to visit: the Katsuo-Ji Temple.
The reason is pretty simple, we had learned about it by watching countless videos about Japan while planning and we were immediately caught by the silent but colourful symbol of this shintoist temple: the Darumas.
Daruma dolls are traditional Japanese talismans modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism.
They are symbols of perseverance, determination, and good luck.
When someone sets a personal goal, they typically paint in one of the daruma's blank eyes. Once the goal is achieved, the second eye is filled in—representing the completion of the journey and gratitude for success.
And they’re everywhere.
Literally, everywhere.
Walking through the garden it became a sort of a game, trying to find them all, every time suprised by the curious places they had been put in.
This was also our first visit to a temple. We were very impressed by how calm and relaxing the atmosphere at temples can be. Sorrounded by nature, in the midst of spring, everything was bursting with new leaves and flowers, the sunlight highlighting every color, making them even more vivid.
And water, water was flowing all around the temple’s garden, not only in the main middle pond, but several streams were flowing here and there, there was even a small waterfall.
To guide you through the sacred area there’s a really smart idea, a sort of a treasure hunt! When you pass through the ticket office, each visitor is given a blank postcard with only a frame printed on it. In the garden, following a circular path, there are several stations where you can stamp one layer of a picture. Only by going through all the stations (and hence visiting the complete area) you will get the complete picture, that makes also for a really nice souvenir :) (apparently they change the stamps every once in a while, so be prepared for a surprise!)
Once we reached the summit of the hill, where the main shrine is located, we stopped to admire the beauty of the decorative architecture, with its bright orange standing out against the blue sky.
In front of the shrine there was also a shop (another recurring characteristic of temples, as we noticed during the trip) where visitors could buy lucky charms and fortune tellers.
We finally got the chance to buy our own Daruma doll and also 2 Daruma-Mikuji, smaller wooden dolls with a “fortune leaflet“. We read our fortunes and they were luckly both very good!
In case your leaflet predicts a bad fortune, you can simply tie it on a specific rack, so that the bad fortune won’t follow you and the Darumas will help chase it away.
We can just say that it was a great way of starting our trip to Japan, it let us directly jump in the history and culture of the land we were just getting to know and we couldn’t be more happy about it.
Moreover Katsuo-ji temple is not one of those destinations on every tourist’s map, so even though there were many foreigners anyway, we didn’t face any crowd, which, in our humble opinion, is always a plus.
Brief History of Katsuo-ji Temple
Katsuo-ji Temple, nestled in the verdant hills of Minoh, Osaka, dates back over 1,300 years to the Nara period. Originally founded in 727 AD as a healing retreat by two monks, Zenchū and Zensan, the temple later gained its current name—Katsuo-ji, meaning “Temple of the Victorious King”—after Emperor Seiwa attributed a miraculous recovery to prayers made there. Over the centuries, the temple has become renowned not only for its spiritual atmosphere but also for its thousands of daruma dolls, placed by visitors seeking victory in personal or professional endeavors. Today, Katsuo-ji remains a beloved pilgrimage site for those hoping to achieve goals, overcome challenges, and find inspiration in persistence.
Pricing: 500 yen - 3€ ca.
You can find all useful information and even buy the tickets online here:https://katsuo-ji-temple.or.jp/audioguidance/index.php
We bought the tickets a couple of days in advance, so we didn’t have to queue when we arrived to the temple, since there’s a separate line for people with a web ticket.
How to get There?
From central Osaka it takes around 1 hour, but it might take more depending on where you’re staying and the time. We’ve checked all current connections on Google Maps before going. In general, you will get with the subway to Minoh-kayano station and from there you can either take the bus or a taxi (it takes an additional 20 minutes, since it has to go through mountain roads) and at the temple there was even a sign indicating that the price for a taxi ride equals a bus ride for four people, so you can decide which alternative fits your needs best.
On this website, there’s also a really useful map of how to reach the temple from different locations: https://katsuo-ji-temple.or.jp/audioguidance/index.php
