Temple Walk and Buddhist Cuisine Experience in Shimane

This Temple Walk and Buddhist Cuisine Experience in Shimane offers a unique dining experience. This coastal prefecture of Shimane is located on the western side of Japan’s Honshu island, and is known for its beautiful mountainous landscapes. Shimane is a beautiful setting to explore a traditional Japanese temple and learn about Buddhist culture through tasting Japanese Buddhist cuisine.

During this Buddhist cuisine temple dining experience, you will wander through a traditional temple in Shimane and then enjoy delicious vegetarian cuisine. Served in a private room, you can experience a range of plant-based food that is traditionally eaten by Buddhist monks in Japan. The restaurant serving this specialty cuisine, which is known as “shojin ryori” in Japanese, is located just a 3-minute walk from Kiyomizu-dera Temple (not to be confused with the temple of the same name in Kyoto). This temple is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. You can explore the temple grounds and then enjoy a delicious and visually stunning meal of Japanese Buddhist cuisine. All of the ingredients are plant-based, so the meal will be entirely made up from vegetables, seaweed, grains, rice, and tofu.

The traditional restaurant which hosts the shojin ryori Buddist cuisine dining experience has wonderfully large windows, opening out onto scenic views. Eat in a private room with tatami mats and authentic Japanese decor and, depending on the season, during the meal you can view wonderful scenery. Marvel at the sakura cherry blossoms and azaleas during spring, lush greenery during summer, and bright red autumn leaves during autumn. It is a unique experience, no matter which time of year you book this experience.

Arriving at the parking lot, you will have time to wander through the temple grounds, for about 10 minutes. After an approximately 1-hour lunch, you will have about 30 minutes to explore the temple grounds further.