The Yokai Trail: From Shinagawa to the Depths of Mount Kurama

Hi everyone. I'm Devan, and I work and live in Tokyo. I love Japanese culture, and I work in digital marketing to promote Japan to the rest of the world. I've been living here for about five years now! I always wanted to learn about yokai, so I was excited to visit the YOKAI Immersive Experience Exhibition (running until June 28th, 2026) and learn more about this unique piece of Japanese folklore!

Tokyo / Shinagawa: YOKAI Immersive Experience Exhibition

This event was only on for a limited time, but it was incredibly well put together, with many different rooms and many different ways of presenting yokai. Yokai are essentially monsters from Japanese folklore, developed and given life through artists and folktales over hundreds of years. The exhibit brings them to life with a balanced mix of original art and projection mapping. It included interactive rooms, projection mapping on 3D objects, and full animated stories putting each yokai onto the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

Coming in, I was a little worried I wouldn't have enough context, since I don't know much about yokai. But when I actually went, all of the explanations were in English too, so it was easy to read, follow along, and learn about them.

I particularly enjoyed the wisteria (fuji) flower room, and the room with 3D object projection mapping. I learned that wisteria is associated in Japanese folklore with warding off evil spirits, which I realized might be why it appears in works like Demon Slayer to ward off demons. The exhibition also explained that many yokai were inspired by the concept of 付喪神 (tsukumogami): objects that were once used by people and then forgotten. This helped me better understand the Japanese value of taking care of your things and continuing to use them.

I met a Tengu at the end, and inspired by the exhibition, I decided to go looking for a yokai shrine of my own somewhere else on my trip.

Kyoto: Hunting Tengu on Mount Kurama

When you think of shrines, you probably also think of Kyoto, so that's where I went next, heading for Kurama-dera, the temple on Mt. Kurama (Kurama-yama), famous for its Tengu legend.

Getting There

JR Central's Tokaido Shinkansen got me from Tokyo to Kyoto in about 2 hours 15 minutes on the Nozomi service. From Kyoto, local rail (the Keihan Main Line and then the Eizan Electric Railway Kurama Line) takes you right to the foot of the mountain, so you don't need a car. Right when you get off at Kurama Station, there's an imposing Tengu statue waiting for you, plus Tengu souvenirs, before you head up the mountain. There's also the Kurama-dera Cable, which lets you shortcut a significant part of the trail. That turned out to be very important, because the temple sits high up on the mountain.

The Hike

The mountain trail has bright orange lamps and stone steps leading up to the top where the temple sits. It is incredibly scenic, and a great photo spot if you want some more unique pictures than your more well-known Kyoto temples. It's a scenic walk, and I found it a great photo spot.

It was a long hike, and after I reached the top, I kept going to the other side of the mountain. It was worth the effort. I didn't see many other visitors on the trail that day, even though I went on a weekend, which surprised me. Other parts of Kyoto I'd visited were busier. Especially in May, when the weather is cool and good for hiking, I was genuinely surprised by how few people were making their way up to this temple.

Learning about Yokai from the exhibition led me to somewhere I normally never would have thought to search up, and it made for an extremely fun and unique experience in Kyoto. I was inspired by the trip, and I hope to take more trips to places related to Japanese folklore and history all around Japan.

*Disclaimer: The prices, operating hours, Shinkansen schedules, and other details mentioned in this article are accurate as of the time of travel/writing. Please note that these are subject to change depending on the season or other factors. We strongly recommend checking the official websites for the most up-to-date information before planning your trip.