Half-Day Stroll in Kyoto Yase

First of all, as you see, NyanNyan-ji isn’t a real temple, but a private gallery or museum. The term “Nya” in NyanNyan-Ji is cat’s meow in Japanese. In the area, there is Kuzuryu-taisha Shrine, whish is a real Shinto shrine. Furthermore, there is a Museum of Cat History (Nyanpaku). I’m sure you can have an enjoyable time there!

1. Museum of Cat History (Nyanpaku for short)
I first visited Nyanpaku. The museum featuring paintings and images of cats is the branch of NyanNyan-Ji, and opened just in May of this year (2025).
In the museum, you can listen to jazz music in dimly lit rooms. 200 or more artworks exhibited in the museum were created from the artist’s thought in which many persons would certainly have some fun when they saw works that transformed into cats from paintings that everyone in the world see at least once. The hand print of a cat is a symbol of this museum.

So you see, the exhibits are paintings that a hero or heroin in a famous picture in the world is changed to a cat, ukiyo-e paintings or caricatures of cats, Japanese warries of cats, Buddhist statues of cats, and cats in old times.

2. Kuzuryu-taisha Shrine
When you walk on foot for 5 minutes from the museum, you’ll find a white stone torii gate. It’s Kuzuryu-taisha Shrine. The Shinto shrine has Kuzuryu Benzaiten (Saraswati) as the main enshrined deity and was established in 1950. The shrine has a painting of Kuzuryu (nine-headed dragon), which was dedicated by Mr. Toru Kaetsu, who is the head of NyanNyan-Ji and draw the painting of Kuzuryu shown below. In the painting, the Kuzuryu Benzaiten rising up to the world of gods is drawn as the shape of a dragon.

Kuzuryu Painting

The painter said that he used platinum pearl as a coloring material in order to express the transparency of Kuzuryu. The plastic impression of the dragon was expressed by applying gohun (whitewash) on the coating surface several times to produce the three-dimensional appearance. The color of the dragon is changed depending on the weather, the sunshine in the morning or evening, or the angle viewed, because the color of the pearl paint changes to gold, silver, white or iridescence by the sunlight irradiated.

3. NyanNyan-Ji
When you walk for about 5 minutes after leaving the shrine, you will reach NyanNyan-Ji.

Entrance

Floor Map

NyanNyan-Ji is not a real temple, as it introduces itself in the top page of its website. It says: it is a world’s first genuine cat-specific museum in which you can appreciate works of art featuring only cats. The private museum uses an old Japanese house built in about 100 years ago in which products of cats were displayed on fusuma (Japanese papered sliding doors) and ceilings close together.
The museum run by the Kaya family of Toru, Junko, and their son Miyano started in the wake of Tohoku Earthquake in 2011. First, they ran a small generally shop, and then they got an old Japanese house and kept the remodeling steadily. In 2016, they finally opened NyanNyan-Ji. The family members are all artists; Toru is a colorist who colors paintings in shrines and temples, Junko is a felt artist, and Miyano acts as a cat artist. The paintings on fusumas shown below, and the paintings and statues in Nyanpaku shown above are all products by Kiyano.

(1) Purchasing Space
Products made by handmade creators are sold on commission. The walls of the room were lined with the products from the floor to the ceiling.

(2) Room of Angel Cat
The fusuma paintings of the cute cates are said as fusuma paintings bringing you good fortune. There is a bar counter at the corner in the room and I had a recommended suite and ginger ale there. The big white cat is Cat Master, and his reception was excellent!

(3) Gallery
Artworks of Miyano which were received prize in contests held at home and abroad are exhibited.

(4) Room of 22 Beckoning Cats
The room having fusumas on which 22beckoning cats were drawn is also used as a resting room. You can relax slowly in the room while basking in the sunshine entering from big windows.

5. Main Hall
The principal image of this temple, Dainichinyarai (Nyarai Buddha), is a formal cat Buddhist image, into which a soul was put by Kaigen Hoyo (consecration ceremony in the cat world). In addition, there is Sanshu-no-Nyangi (which are three sacred treasures) and Susanyaru-no-Mikoto and Nekoterasu Omikami, who are gods in the cat world, are deified. The gods were prayed by Kannushi (Shinto priest) of Kuzuryu-taish Shrine. Furthermore, the room has an overwhelming decorative ceiling painting drawn by 44 artists.

(6) Specific Exhibition
On that day, a specific exhibition “300 Doya-Cats and Adacchanworld” Exhibition was held, in which “doya-cat” is made by Koji Katsura Iwasaki and “Adacchan” is a diorama artist. I could appreciate a collaboration of cute doya-cats and cool diorama buildings. The cats in the diorama were cool and the diorama holding cats were somehow cute, and a mystery world in which one plus one is not two was spread.