PhotoNara · Nara Prefecture

Kimono photoshoot in Nara

In short

A kimono photoshoot in Nara costs $260 for 30 minutes inside the Yoshikien garden; an extra hour ($150) adds Isuien and the Todai-ji approach. You receive 15 edited photos within 3 days. Dressing takes 30–60 minutes beforehand at a shop near Kintetsu Nara Station; rental is $55 per person as an add-on.

Starting from: $260
Duration: 30 min
Edited photos: 15

Why here

Why choose Kimono photoshoot in Nara?

Kimono in Nara has a problem Kyoto does not: the deer will eat it. A sleeve that has brushed a cracker is a target, and the park’s busiest lawns are where that happens. So the session puts the kimono in the walled gardens on the park’s western edge, where deer do not graze, and brings them into the frame only on the Todai-ji approach, from a distance, if you add the extra hour.

How the shoot is planned

How a session in Nara is planned

The route

Dressing starts at a rental shop near Kintetsu Nara Station; the shop is booked for you with the session. From there it is a ten-minute walk to Yoshikien, where the moss garden and the still pond give the base half-hour its colour — a pale kimono against deep green, or a darker one against autumn maples. With an extra hour, Isuien’s front garden next door is a short walk on, and its back garden borrows the roof of Todai-ji’s Nandaimon gate and the slope of Mt Wakakusa as a background, the frame most people come to Nara gardens for. The last part crosses to the Todai-ji approach. There we keep the deer in the background rather than at your sleeve, with your bag held in front and no crackers anywhere near you.

The timing

Yoshikien opens at 09:00 and Isuien at 09:30, so the session starts at nine with dressing from about 08:00; Isuien is closed most Tuesdays, which rules that day out for the longer route. Late March to early April puts blossom over the pond and books out Nara’s few rental shops, and mid-November to early December turns the maples at Yoshikien red. In July and August choose a cotton yukata over full kimono. Note that Kofuku-ji’s five-storey pagoda is under restoration scaffolding for several years, so we do not plan frames around it.

What’s included

What Kimono photoshoot in Nara includes

In the package

15 edited photos
A short walk from the rental studio to one spot close by
Advice on a kimono colour that reads well against the season
Private online gallery within 3 days

Fees and permits on the route

Todai-ji Nandaimon and Great Buddha Hall: Nandaimon gate free; Great Buddha Hall about ¥800; no tripods
Kasuga Taisha lantern approach: Approach free; inner precinct about ¥700
Isuien and Yoshikien gardens: Isuien about ¥1,200 (closed most Tuesdays); Yoshikien has offered free entry to overseas visitors

Book online

Inspiration

Kimono photoshoot: ideas for your shoot

Frames by photographers on Unsplash, credited below — the mood to plan your own shoot against, not our portfolio.

Photos: Beth Macdonald, Maria Cassagne, EMANUELE Ricciardi, H Liu, Launde Morel on Unsplash

Before you book

FAQ — Kimono photoshoot in Nara

Will the deer damage the rented kimono?

They will try if the fabric smells of crackers, which is why nobody in the session handles them. In the gardens there are no deer; on the approach we keep a metre or two away and the photographer stays between you and the herd.

Should we rent the kimono in Nara or in Kyoto?

Nara has only a handful of shops, and they fill first in sakura season. If yours is full, dress in Kyoto and take the Kintetsu line for 35–45 minutes; we adjust the start to your train.

What does the Nara kimono shoot cost in total?

$260 for 30 minutes and 15 edited photos, plus $55 per person if we book the kimono rental and dressing. Garden entry is paid on the day: Isuien charges about ¥1,200, and Yoshikien has offered overseas visitors free entry.

Same shoot elsewhere