What other travelers are saying about Myoryuji Temple (Ninja Temple)
You need to make reservations by calling personally from the hotel or by ringing the person in the souvenir shop on the temple grounds. In both cases you’ll be asked questions about your nationality, mode of transportation, etc. The most money we paid in Kanazawa as entrance fee ¥1200 per person. Very cold inside. Guide speaks Japanese, but all foreigners are given a laminated A4 booklet with all the information and photos for you to relate description to the things around. Very cool place! Try to imagine it in the 17th century with no artificial lights.
The 'Ninja Temple' is an absolute must-see when visiting Kanazawa. It is necessary to reserve tickets in advance, but our hotel arranged this for us, so it was easy to get a tour, even on a weekend. The tour itself is only in Japanese, but the guides do speak some English and will give you a written guidebook that gives you a very good idea of what you are viewing. The tour is absolutely fascinating and full of history and lore. It's worth every yen of the entrance fee. No photos are allowed inside the temple, so it's hard to convey the quality of this tour but take my word that it is the best place we visited while we were in Kawazawa. Worth making a special effort to see.
Main reasons for docking stars is that the tours require reservations (which isn’t made clear anywhere) and that it’s kind of expensive. However, it seems to be decently easy to secure an unclaimed slot as a walk in. The temple is pretty cool, but it would have been cooler to explore unguided.
One of the most interesting temples I have ever visited! In spite of the external look, that is quite average for a small size temple, the inside is what is really special about the place. Photos aren't allowed inside and the place can be visited only with a guided tour (there is one every 30 min). The tours are only in Japanese but a booklet in English, Spanish and probably other languages is available for foreigners. The temple is like a labyrinth full of secret passages and doors and traps. Absolutely recommended for an alternative and very interesting visit. As explained by the guide the temple doesn't really have anything to do with ninjas. Ninja temple is just a name that was given recently due to its mysteries and secrets insides.
Extraordinary, must-see !!!
In contrast to all other temples, the Ninja Temple is different!
In these times, only two stories buildings were allowed to be built. From outside, this is fulfilled. But inside there are 29 (!) staircases on seven levels resulting in four stories plus mid-stories.
Besides this, there are so many tricks implemented in this building to hide and escape and … further I do not disclose here.
Surely, worship is the focus on the building.
Suggestion: make a reservation in advance to ensure no waiting time. Otherwise you need to make an reservation locally via intercom and you may need to wait for the next available spot.
Only drawback: Tour guide only speaks Japanese. Mitigation: you will get a booklet with pictures and explanations, so you can follow the tour nicely.
