Footbath (Onsen) of Arashiyama Station — Attraction in Kyoto

The name of “Arashiyama (literary, ‘the storm mountain’) comes from the wind known as “Atago Oroshi,” which blows down from Mt. Atago in the west edge of Kyoto. The building of Randen(Keifuku Electric Railroad)’s Arashiyama Station is located right across from the gate of the Rinzai sect head temple and World Cultural Heritage, Tenryū-ji.

The station provides pathways for walk, small parks, kiosks and a “footbath.” If you have time, enjoy the FREE footpath and the delish food at the station. One of the highlights is to take plentiful instagrammable pictures of the amazing art installation of 600 backlit pillars adorned with vibrant kimono textiles (the kimono forest). I Walked through the relatively short kimono path and admired the fascinatingly gorgeous Kimono patterns. Would love to capture all the kimono pattern images, but it may need to take approximately about 100 pictures. So I just took few patterns that caught my attention. I have seen many stunning IG photos of the kimono forest’s night scene. So next time I may try to take some of the night photos for memory keeping sake. Here share some of my creative photo editing of the kimono forest.

The popular Tenryū-ji (aka ‘the temple of Heavenly Dragon) is just 2 mins walk from the station. Apart from admiring the awe-inspiring scenery of the temple, you can visit the Pond of Dragon. It is believed that the Dragon is the guardian deity of the station, protecting the travelers’ from any danger or obstacles of their journey and making their wishes manifested. Next time will visit the temple and the dragon pond. So many “next time” spots awaiting...

Great way of relaxing and relieving your sore feet after walking the whole day. It's located right by the arashiyama station. You can buy tickets at the station's ticket office. Think it cost about 200 to 300 yen per person and ticket comes with a free towel that you can use after the foot bath to dry your feet. We went in March 2019, don't think there was a time limit but I think Google or some other sites says the time limit is 30 minute. We stayed about 40minutes here without any issues. Right before you enter, you have to take off your shoes and socks but don't worry, you don't have to hold on to them. They have shelves where you can leave your shoes. Then you should rinse your feet at the fountain before stepping into the foot bath. The foot bath is nice and hot, good temperature imo but not too hot. I think the setup of the foot bath was very nice, they had benches around the perimeter of the foot bath and in the middle there's two tables that you can use. Some people were reading their book/magazines whole enjoying the foot bath. Others were on their phone, while some others used the table to enjoy a quick snack while they were there. The foot bath is outdoors but it has a roof so you can still probably enjoy it on a rainy day. I loved it and wished they has something like this...

Lovely little footbath in the middle of the train station. You pay at the information desk, ¥250pp which is very reasonable as there is no specified time limit - apparently 10-15 minutes is good for you? Not sure the science behind that but it certainly feels good.

The bath is at 40°C, which is quite hot especially at the beginning. If you have sensitive skin this might not be for you, my feet turned...