Kanazawa Ninja-dera tickets

Hi,
I read you have to pre reserve tickets for visiting the Ninja temple in Kanazawa. Is it hard to get same day tickets or does it depend on the season? Or day perhaps?

Is it possible to see how much tickets are available?

Is the guide only in Japanese? Are there any English translations?

Hi, there.

This site below shows answers for a part of your questions.
http://www.myouryuji.or.jp/en.html

I've heard Ninjadera is very very popular for all yaers so you should make a reservation.

According to some of the reviews, 16 people are allowed for one session.
People are divided into 2 groups and the staff guides them in Japanese language.

But a few reviews say about 60 poeple were OK and divided into 4 groups.
So maybe it depends on the number of reservation.

Myouryuji is much more like a tourist attraction than a temple and as such, they like to get as many people as possible through their doors every day. There are an endless series of groups that are taken around and these groups are made up of random people as they arrive so you'll get all nationalities going around together in one group.

The guiding however is ONLY in Japanese. Foreigners - whether English speakers or not - are given a folder with a word for word English translation of what's being said by the guide.

Bear in mind that this temple has NOTHING to do with ninja. As they say in the guiding, "忍者の関係はまったくありません。" That is just the name given to it because it has some hidden doorways and passages.

Non Japanese speakers will not understand a word that's being said as they're hustled from place to place within the temple. As you try to read the English explanation in the folder, you miss the thing that's being pointed out by the guide and then just as you realise what's being shown, it's time to move on to the next place.

Overall, IMHO, the Myouryuji experience is less about feeling the spirit of a temple and more about the clever exploitation of tourists and I have no problem advising people that it's ok to drop it from their plans...

From the description it sounds more like a tourists trap so.I guess I would rather visit other places since I only got about 1,5 days in Kanazawa.

Thank you for your replies anyway.

The streets areas around the \"temple" are they worth vivisiting? I know there are areas to the east too with streets and so.

Overall, IMHO, the Myouryuji experience is less about feeling the spirit of a temple and more about the clever exploitation of tourists and I have no problem advising people that it's ok to drop it from their plans...

I'm actually pretty surprised by your characterization, as I've gotten nothing but rave reviews of Ninjadera. Personally I found the English info on the tours to be well done and informative, and the tours themselves actually prevents the temple from getting too crowded. Sounds like you were hoping to feel the "spirit of a temple", which I agree is not what Myouryuji is about, so from that point of view I guess your review makes sense. Maybe this is more an example about managing expectations.

The streets areas around the \"temple" are they worth vivisiting? I know there are areas to the east too with streets and so.

No not really, but Nishi Chaya and the Samurai District are relatively close by.

It was the Chaya and samurai district I was thinking off.

Anyway. For the question again about getting tickets, again is it hard for same day tickets? I cannot go to the temple on the spot and ask for a reservation within an hour if I got some time to spare? It has to be done by phone?