Sunday 8 November, 3:06 pm in Kyoto
Is the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove crowded right now?
Very busy
Calmer from 6 pm.
3 pm: Very busy
Busy from 9 am to 6 pm. Go before 8:30 am. It calms down after 6 pm, but it will be dark by then.
Which day should you go in the next two weeks?
Each date opens its own hour-by-hour forecast.
| Date | Busiest | When | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 0% |
| Tomorrow | Very busy | Busy 9:30 am to 5:30 pm | 10% |
| Tue 10 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 42% |
| Wed 11 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 0% |
| Thu 12 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 4% |
| Fri 13 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 6% |
| Sat 14 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6:30 pm | 5% |
| Sun 15 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9:30 am to 6 pm | 91% |
| Mon 16 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 10% |
| Tue 17 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 43% |
| Wed 18 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 19% |
| Thu 19 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 13% |
| Fri 20 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6 pm | 7% |
| Sat 21 Nov | Very busy | Busy 9 am to 6:30 pm | 21% |
Can you check the path before you leave?
The Kyoto City Tourism Association runs a live camera on the bamboo path. It shows the real crowd, which our estimate cannot.
The same page has the association's own hour-by-hour forecast for the coming week, built from phone location data. It is in Japanese: look for the coloured grid under 竹林の小径.
Can you walk the bamboo path with a suitcase?
You can, but the path has a long slope and is crowded for most of the day, so it is slow going with luggage. If you are flying home from Kansai Airport, Bag2Gate can take your suitcase for you. It stores bags in Osaka and delivers them to the Yamato counter at KIX, where you collect them before check-in. It does not keep bags in Arashiyama.
See how luggage delivery to Kansai Airport works
Arashiyama Bamboo is run by Bag2Gate.
These levels are estimates from typical patterns, not live counts. A tour group or event can change the crowd on the day. Weather from Open-Meteo, updated 3 pm, Sunday 8 November.