Mount Hiei Enryaku-ji Temple is located at the border between Kyoto and Shiga Prefecture. The west side of the mountain belongs to Kyoto Prefecture, and the east side belongs to Shiga Prefecture~ If you want to go up the mountain, besides driving, you can also use public transportation to get there. This article will introduce three transportation routes to Mount Hiei, so you can easily understand how to get there.
3 Ways to Get to Mount Hiei
There are three ways to go up the mountain:
1. Take a mountain bike from Shiga.
2. Take the Eizan mountain train and Eizan cable car from Kyoto.
3. Take the Mount Hiei express bus from downtown Kyoto.
From Shiga to Sakamoto cable car.
If you are coming from Kyoto, you need to:
1. Take the JR Kosei Line or Keihan Electric Railway – Ishiyama Sakamoto Line to Shiga.
2. Transfer to the Kojaku Bus to the foot of Sakamoto Cable Car.
3. Then transfer to the Sakamoto Cable Car to go up the mountain!
JR Kosei Line
■ Route Description:
1. Take the JR Kosei Line from JR Kyoto Station to “Mount Hiei Sakamoto” station, with a travel time of about 17 minutes and an adult fare of ¥330.
2. After getting off the JR train, you will need to transfer to the Kojaku Bus No. 41 to “Cable Sakamoto” station, with a travel time of about 7 minutes and an adult fare of ¥250.
3. Once you get off the bus, you can then transfer to the Sakamoto Cable Car to go up the mountain!
■ One-way cost: ￥1450
■ Applicable Tickets: None
■ Important Notes: KTP is not available on the Kojaku Bus that travels between JR-Keihan-Sakamoto Cable.
Keihan Electric Railway – Ishiyama Sakamoto Line
■ Route Description:
1. Take the subway from Kyoto City – Tozai Line and transfer to the Keihan Keishin Line at “Biwako-Hamaotsu” station. After getting off the Keihan Keishin Line train, transfer to the Ishiyama Sakamoto Line and get off at “Sakamoto-hieizanguchi” station. (Using Sanjo Keihan as an example, it takes about 44 minutes and costs 570 yen).
2. After getting off, transfer to the Kojaku Bus No. 41 and get off at “Cable Sakamoto”. The bus ride takes about 4 minutes and costs 230 yen for adults.
3. After getting off the bus, you can transfer to the Sakamoto Cable Car to go up the mountain!
■ One-way cost: ￥1670
■ Applicable Ticket: Kansai Thru Pass
■ Important Notes: KTP is not available on the Kojaku Bus that travels between JR-Keihan-Sakamoto Cable.
Sakamoto Cable Car
■ Introduction to Sakamoto Cable Car:
The Sakamoto Cable Car (Japanese: 坂本ケーブル) is located on the right side of Mount Hiei, near Lake Biwa. The total length of the track is approximately 2025 meters, with an elevation difference of 484 meters. The steepest slope along the entire route is 333.3‰. There are only two stations: “Cable Sakamoto” at the foot of the mountain and “Cable Enryaku-ji” on the mountain. It operates year-round, so if you want to go up Mount Hiei in winter, you can only take the Sakamoto Cable Car from Shiga!
■ Route Description: Continuing from before, take the Kojaku bus and then transfer to theSakamoto Cable Car to the “Cable Enryaku-ji” station. After getting off, it is an 8-minute walk to reach the East Tower.
■ Fare: One-way adult ¥870, child ¥440 / Round-trip adult ¥1660, child ¥830 (Source)
■ Departure Frequency: 1 train every 30 minutes.
■ One-way travel time: approximately 11 minutes
From Kyoto to Mount Hiei – Eizan Ropeway + Eizan Cable Car Route
If you’re coming from Kyoto, here are my personal recommendations:
1. Take the Keihan train or bus to the Demachiyanagi Station of the Eizan Electric Railway.
2. Ride the Eizan Electric Railway to the Yase-Hieizanguchi Station.
3. First, take the Eizan Cable Car to the halfway point of the mountain, then transfer to the Eizan Ropeway to reach the mountaintop.
Eizan Ropeway + Eizan Cable Car
The Eizan Ropeway and Eizan Cable Car are located on the left side of Mount Hiei. However, the Eizan Ropeway can only travel up to the halfway point of the mountain. To reach the summit, you must take the Eizan Cable Car. It’s important to note that it takes approximately 1 minute to walk from the Eizan Ropeway to the Eizan Cable Car at the halfway point.
Eizan Ropeway
One-way fare: Adults ¥550, Children ¥270 (source)
Departure frequency: Every 30 minutes on weekdays, every 15 minutes on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays
One-way travel time: Approximately 9 minutes
Eizan Cable Car
One-way fare: Adults ¥350, Children ¥180 (source)
Departure frequency: Regardless of weekdays or holidays, there is one departure every 15 minutes.
One-way travel time: Approximately 3 minutes.
Take a bus from downtown Kyoto to go up the mountain.
From the city, there are two bus routes to Mount Hiei.
The first one is called “Mount Hiei Drive Bus” (Japanese: 比叡山ドライブバス) and is operated jointly by Keihan Bus and Kyoto Bus. The starting point of this bus route is Kyoto Station, passing through Sanjo Keihan (Kyoto Bus does not pass through this station) and Demachiyanagi, and then arriving at the Enryaku-ji Bus Center before finally reaching the top of Mount Hiei.
The 2nd route is the 56 and 56A of the Keihan Bus system. The starting point of these two bus routes is Sanjo Keihan, then they pass through Higashiyama and Ginkaku-ji in the city area, and finally arrive at the Enryaku-ji Bus Center, ending at the top of Mount Hiei.
■ Travel Dates: Mid-March to early December every year. In 2023, the travel dates are from March 18th to December 3rd. Service is suspended during winter.
■ Train Schedule:
Mount Hiei Drive Bus operates 4 to 9 round trips per day (4 trips on weekdays, 9 trips on weekends).
Keihan Bus 56 and 56A operate 5 to 6 round trips per day (6 trips on weekdays, 5 trips on weekends).
■ One-way cost:
Fare from Kyoto Station to East Tower (Enryaku-ji Bus Center) is ¥790. (Source)
You can use Keihan Bus or Kyoto Bus with the Kansai Thru Pass for transportation.
■ Timetable: Click here to view.
■ Route: (See blue line in the image below) (Click here to view the official route map)
■ Departure Point:
To take a bus up the mountain from the city center of Kyoto, there are three commonly used locations.
The first is in front of Kyoto Station, the second is at Demachiyanagi Station on the Keihan Electric Railway, and the third is at Sanjo Keihan.
Kyoto Station Front C6
There is a place in the picture below with the words “京阪バス(比叡山方面)” written on it. The label should be B3.
Transportation on Mount Hiei
There are currently two types of buses operating for transportation on the mountain. When boarding, please pay attention to the following:
1. The first type is the one mentioned earlier, which goes directly from Kyoto city to the top of Mount Hiei. This service is operated by Keihan Bus/Kyoto Bus.
2. One is the shuttle bus inside Mount Hiei, called the Shuttle Bus, currently operated by Kojaku Bus. The operating dates for the Shuttle Bus in 2023 are from March 18, 2023 to December 3, 2023.
■ Route:
A. Mount Hiei Summit ~ East Tower ~ Enryaku-ji Bus Center (バスセンタ－) ~ West Tower ~ Minedo ~ Yokogawa
B. Mount Hiei Summit ~ Enryaku-ji Bus Center
■ Fare Cost: Click here to check.
■ Timetable: Click here to check.
Each bus departs from “Mount Hiei Summit” and stops briefly at “Yokogawa” before continuing on to “Mount Hiei Summit” again.
■ Location for boarding:
Please pay attention to the signboard shown in the picture below. If it says “シャトルバス” (Shuttle Bus), that is the signboard for the Shuttle Bus. However, please note that this signboard is the same as the regular bus signboard, so please make sure not to board the wrong one!
Additionally, although the two signboards have the same name, they go in different directions. Please refer to the timetable information on the back, as it will indicate the destination.
■ Applicable Tickets: Kansai Thru Pass
■ Notes:
1. Currently, the buses you will encounter on the mountain are Keihan Bus, Kyoto Bus, and Kojaku Bus. According to information obtained in 2023, the Shuttle Bus is currently operated by Kojaku Bus.
2. ICOCA can be used on Kojaku Bus.
3. KTP can be used on Keihan Bus, Kyoto Bus, and Kojaku Bus.
However, when netizen “deathdevil21” used it, the driver informed them that KTP cannot be used. This is due to insufficient employee training.
I have already written to Kojaku Bus to inquire about this and confirmed that KTP can be used. (See supplementary explanation for details)
The transportation on the mountain, this winter (12/4~1/3), Kojaku Bus is still operating. For more details, please visit the official website of Kojaku Bus.
Recommended Transportation Tickets
Tickets to visit Mount Hiei can be purchased using KTP, or you can also consider using the “Mount Hiei Enryaku-ji Temple Pilgrimage Ticket” or the “Mount Hiei Free Pass“.
Additional Explanation
I wrote a letter to inquire about the use of KTP for the Shuttle bus on Mount Hiei, and received a confirmation that it can indeed be used. The content of the letter is as follows:
Reference Materials
■ Inquiries about other transportation routes to Mount Hiei, shuttle bus on the mountain, and Hiei Drive bus can be found here.
■ Official website for Eizan Ropeway and Eizan Cable Car.
■ Official website for Kojaku Bus.
■ Official website for Sakamoto cable car.
■ Information on transportation tickets related to Mount Hiei.
『Original Source：https://nicklee.tw/1060/』
