Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine, Gokoku shrine in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine stands on the eastern slope of Ryozen in Higashiyama-ku, its broad hall roofed in pale greenish-blue tiles with a row of white-tipped rafters along the eave. The dark brown wooden facade has a wide central entrance between pillars and lattice panels, with two red-framed notice boards and two red donation boxes before the steps. The shrine's east side holds the Ryozen cemetery of Meiji Restoration activists.

In 1868 Emperor Meiji ordered a shrine built on Higashiyama's Ryozen hill for shishi who died before the Meiji Restoration, and Kyoto nobles and the domains of Yamaguchi, Kochi, Fukui, Tottori and Kumamoto each raised their own small shrine there, making it Japan's first shōkonsha, a year older than Yasukuni. Renamed Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine in 1939, it was called Kyoto Shrine under the GHQ occupation before reverting after the San Francisco peace treaty.

The shrine's name is read Ryōzen, and its crest combines cherry blossom and chrysanthemum. Its main festival, the Mitama Matsuri, runs from 13 to 16 August. On 15 November, the date of both his birth and death, the Ryōma Festival honours Sakamoto Ryōma, whose grave lies in the hillside cemetery east of the grounds.

Reach the shrine from the Higashiyama Yasui bus stop (routes 80, 202, 206, 207), about a 10-minute walk, or 15 minutes on foot from Gion-Shijo Station on the Keihan line. The grave of Sakamoto Ryoma lies up the hillside in the Ryozen cemetery on the east side of the grounds, reached through the entrance beside the east shrine office. The Ryozen Museum of History stands across the road.

Since around 2009, fans have left lit cigarettes at Sakamoto Ryōma's grave around his November 15 memorial festival; in 2009 over 100 cigarettes sent up smoke thick enough to hinder the recitation of prayers. The shrine's chief priest, Kimura Takahiko, has asked visitors to leave them unlit.