Recommended Food Information in Enmachi, Kyoto

March 26, 2020

by Masashi Morishita, and Noa Murakami

Do you know Enmachi? It is a sightseeing spot in Kyoto. There are many temples and shops there. You can go by train from Kyoto Station in about ten minutes. In particular, we recommend that you eat delicious foods if you go to Enmachi because there are a lot of good restaurants there. We visited a restaurant and a café this time. The first one is a famous ramen restaurant. Ramen is a noodle soup dish that was originally imported from China. The next one is a cafe. It is a curry and pancake cafe. We want to introduce this restaurant and café.

Tantanmen YEBISU

At first, we will explain about ramen. As we said, ramen is a noodle soup dish. It has become one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It’s common to eat it for dinner. You can find ramen restaurants in every corner of Japan and the tastes of countless regional variations. We went to a restaurant called “Tantanmen YEBISU” in Enmachi. In this restaurant, Tantanmen is delicious. Tantanmen is Chinese noodles in spicy soup. It looks red, and it’s hot and spicy food. We actually ate it, and it was very delicious, and you can select the level of hotness (spiciness). Therefore, you can enjoy eating tantanmen even if you are not good at eating hot tasting food. Also, the “cheese tantanmen” is the most popular ramen for woman because it is not hot and even children can eat it. This shop is bright and very comfortable. The staff are very gentle and will welcome you with pleasure. In addition, there are some kind services. For example, it offers its customers paper aprons, hair ties, and soup spoons with small holes. Any customer who wears a white shirt or whose hair is long can enjoy tantamen without getting stains on

themselves by using the paper apron and hair tie. Also, you can eat small ingredients like meat and green onions in tantanmen by using the soup spoon with small holes. The original way of eating ramen in Japan is to make a loud sound

while eating, similar to a slurping sound. You shouldn’t worry about making sounds when eating Asian noodles in Japan because eating loudly (slurping) is a good thing in Japan when eating noodles. It is very surprising. Actually, people will just think you are enjoying your noodle meal! When you eat tantanmen in this restaurant, you can make a loud sound, so let’s eat tantanmen.

Café and Bar, Off Time

This café is a hidden café. All of the menu items such as curry, plate lunch, french toast, focaccia and sweets is homemade. In addition, this café has a relaxed atmosphere, so you can avoid the crowds and enjoy a leisurely meal because it located in a calm place. Also, there are a lot of miscellaneous goods, and the interior design is good.

You can enjoy reading Japanese children’s books such as “The Cat That Lived a Million Times” and the “Gama-Kun and Kaeru-Kun” series. And then, the main attraction is the variety of deserts on the menu, and you can enjoy a lot of different cakes every day. The cakes have a soft, spongy texture with a homely and nostalgic taste. It also isn’t too sweet, so even those who don’t like eating sweet things can enjoy them. However, you should visit this cafe early in the morning because the popular cakes sell out quickly.

Also, you can enjoy not only meals and sweets but also tableware like cups, spoons and dishes. They have cute designs and make you excited. In addition, the owner is a kind woman who is loved by customers, and she cooks all the food on the menu by herself. You will have a good time in this café. You should stop by Off Time if you visit Enmachi.

Conclusion

Many famous restaurants are lined up in front of the station in Enmachi, while there are many cheap and delicious hidden restaurants a little far from Enmachi station. Therefore, you will enjoy finding your favorite restaurants while walking around the town in Enmachi. Also, it is easy to search for your favorite restaurants or foods because most restaurants post their restaurant’s information on Instagram or Twitter. Enmachi is not a very famous place in Kyoto and there are few foreign tourists; however, it is a very nice place with good restaurants. Therefore, we hope that a lot of foreign tourists visit Enmachi after reading this article, and we want you to enjoy many restaurants and cafes in Enmachi, especially Tantanmen YEBISU and Café and Bar, Off Time.

Access information

“Tantanmen YEBISU” takes about 2 minutes on foot from Enmachi Station (JR Sanin Line).

TEL: 075-366-6767

Time: 11:00AM-11:00PM (closed on Tuesdays).

“Café and Bar, Off Time” takes about 10 minutes on foot from Enmachi Station (JR Sanin Line).

TEL: 075-801-8108

Café time: 11:00AM-5:00PM (Tuesday-Sunday)

Bar time: 6:00PM-10:30PM (Thursday-Saturday) 6:00PM-9:00PM (Sunday)

Tuesday and Wednesday are only café time (Closed on Mondays)

Walden Woods Kyoto

　by Koki Suzuki, Hirofumi Kawashima, and Masaya Soju

　Currently there are various cafes in Kyoto such as fashionable cafes, old-fashioned cafes, and animal cafes. Among these various cafes, we would like to introduce a Kyoto cafe that is very popular on Instagram. Its name is Walden Woods Kyoto. In this article, we will write about the history of this cafe, why it became popular, and the impressions we got when we actually went there. Those interested in a cutting-edge cafe in Japan will enjoy reading this article.

History

　On December 14, 2017, “Walden Woods Kyoto” opened near Higashi Honganji Temple in Kyoto. “Walden Woods Kyoto” is a renovated Western-style house which was built in 1912 and made into a cafe. For example, there are four windows, which express the image of a Western-style building. The building facing the south is unique to Kyoto, which was built on a grid, and it has bright sunlight that illuminates the white outer walls of the café. This is the original Walden camouflage pattern making it feel like a forest. This café was made by Seiichiro Shimamura and Yuji Nishimura. They are professionals in the clothing and restaurant industry. The café also uses a vintage coffee roasting machine. This coffee machine was purchased in Europe from a restored 1966 coffee roasting machine. It was made by Probat. This company was in business 150 years ago, and this coffee roasting machine is a coffee roasting machine that can bake coffee beans with the best flavor. So, you can buy coffee that tastes like it’s from in 1870. Lamps, tableware, trays, etc., which are images of nature, and French vintage and old military items, are also used in the cafe.. This cafés images are of the Walden forest. You can feel freedom and fun when you visit the cafe. So, you can feel various emotions. If you are tired, this café can heal you. We want you to feel freedom yourself in this café.

Why Walden Woods in Kyoto Has Become Popular

　First, the inside view of the cafe is very simple. There are cash registers and coffee machines on the first floor. There are no chairs or desks on the eat-in floor (2F). There is only a lantern and a window lined up with white space and staircases. Sunlight comes in on a sunny day. The light of the lantern gives a stylish atmosphere at night, and the exterior walls, floors, walls, counters are all white. Because of this floor, the café’s popularity has spread to various people such as students and young people on Instagram. And with the aim of “insta bae” (= Instagrammable), more customers have come to Walden Woods Kyoto. This cafe also has a lot of original items and vintage miscellaneous goods. For example, T-shirts, postcards, candles, mugs, etc. Some customers are looking for these kinds of original items. It also sells coffee beans, so you can enjoy the taste of this cafe at home. Second, we went to this café, and the atmosphere in the cafe was very good. This cafe also sells seasonal drinks, and the menu changes every season. This is one of the reasons why customers can go there without feeling bored, and that is why this cafe has become popular. In addition, the owner is good at latte art. So, customers can also enjoy latte art. And coffee is also roasted in the cafe. Finally, it was very impressive when the staff members said, “Have a good day!” when we left the cafe. Therefore, you can leave this cafe comfortably and feeling satisfied. For these reasons, we realized that this cafe has become more popular, and we think that many customers will continue to come to this cafe, not only from Japan, but also from foreign countries. We want people to visit this cafe.

Impressions

First, you can see that the exterior and interior is pure white and there is also a homemade brewing machine in the cafe, so you can enjoy wonderful coffee. When we ordered our drink on the first floor, we went up to the space on the second floor. All of the decorations reminded us of a grand mountain.In fact, it was a completely different space from general cafes. There is a tree in the middle, and there is a seat along the wall surrounding the tree. The customers are free to choose their seats and relax.

Second, we ordered a cafe latte, and we did some latte art, which makes the cafe feel even more stylish. In this way, you can enjoy reading while having tea or coffee in the afternoon, which is very nice. Furthermore, the second floor looks very wide, so if you come with your sons or daughters, your children are able to run around. Because we are acquainted with the owner of Walden Woods Kyoto, we were able to talk to him. Then we heard about the house, and he told us it was originally a Western-style house in the Taisho era (1912~1926). Specifically, it was mostly used in 1912. Because there are no pillars in Japanese houses, the Japanese in the Taisho era were able to build a house with wide space.

Third, the customer service, including the store manager, Umeda Kouya, was wonderful, and everyone had good smiles. That is one factor that makes the café attractive to its customers. There were many customers who took pictures. Also, the people who visit the cafe are fashionable, and the number of people visiting the cafe is increasing, so the café gathers fashionable people.

Next, as a famous coffee shop on Instagram, we also heard how to take good pictures. Our recommendation is on the side with the four windows. Customers will sit there first if this space is available. There are also three tiers and a relatively large number of people sit in the middle. You can take good pictures by sitting at the top.

Finally, the Walden Woods Kyoto is a really wonderful coffee shop.

Now that you’ve read this article, please come to Kyoto, and please drop by Walden Woods Kyoto.

Fashionable Cafes in Kyoto

by Miyu Arimoto, Yuko Yasuda & Yuma Ogata

Nowadays, most people in the world use SNS like Instagram. They usually take pictures many fashionable places and post these pictures for their followers to enjoy. In Japan, we call something instabae that is very photogenic. It is like the English term Instagrammable. In this article, we will introduce you to three fashionable cafes in Kyoto. All of them are instabae. We want to help you to make your Instagram page more attractive. If you are interested in instabae and fashionable cafes, then read onward.

Walden Woods Kyoto

Walden Woods Kyoto is a café located near Higashihonganji Temple. This shop opened in December of 2017. It is located in a very old building, so customers can feel a nostalgic atmosphere. It has a probat (roasting machine) from the 1969s, which is very nice. And recently this shop has become very popular, appearing on many websites and in magazines. Thanks to this, Walden Woods is now known to all generations.

This is the drink menu. This menu is written in English, so it is easy for foreign customers to order beverages.

Walden Woods offers seasonal beverages. For example, a seasonal tea soda is made from a hibiscus and rosehip blended tea with soda. In addition, it includes fruit chips, so we can smell fresh fruits in the soda. They also offer ginger latte, which is a new style latte. It made with ginger, milk and strong coffee. We can taste ginger’s nice punch, which goes well with the milk and coffee. They also offer a delicious hot latte. It is very simple, but this shop is known for its latte art. The shop owner is a barista who is good at doing art, so most customers come to experience his latte arts. You should try the ginger latte and the Ethiopia blend. The Ethiopia blend is mild black. It has a nice bitter taste when you drink it without sugar.

Usually, Walden Woods Kyoto is opened every day except for special day. Opening hours are from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. Expect to spend between 500 yen to 1000 yen ($5 to $10). We went to this shop several times and we know the owner. He is very friendly and staff members have a nice smile, so I recommend that you visit this shop and take nice photographs. This is web site.

(http://www.walden-woods.com/)

1er ETAGE

1er ETAGE is located only about 5 minutes on foot from Kawaramachi station. Opening hours are from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. everyday. This café’s name means “First Floor” in French, but in fact, the first floor in France is actually what we call the second floor in English. So the English translation would be “second floor”. As its name suggests, the café is on the second floor of the building.

1er ETAGE has a relaxed atmosphere, so you can enjoy your time there. There are a lot of dried flowers, so the air is filled with a sweet and subtle natural perfume. The café has stylish and antique interior, so any photo you take there will be instabae. As you look up at the ceiling, it looks like a flower garden of dried flowers. Many kinds of dried flowers are hanging from the ceiling. So, it is beautiful, and you will be impressed. However, we recommended that you should avoid after lunch time because there are just a few seats available.

1er ETAGE serves drinks and homemade cake. This picture is of the menu. As you can see, a dried flower is attached to the cover of menu. It is so cute. We drank roasted green tea café latte “Houji cha latte” in Japanese, lemonade, and we ate chocolate banana brownies. They were very delicious. Especially we recommend you drink the lemonade. It was sour and tasty. Often the homemade cake is changed according to the season.

1er ETAGE also sells dried flowers, which start at 200 yen.

There are various dried flowers, so you might be able to find your favorite flower. Dried blue roses caught my eyes. They were particularly beautiful. The staff makes a dried flower bouquet. Even if you don’t like flowers very much, I think you will like this café. So, if you come to Kyoto we recommend that you visit this café.

Litt Up Kyoto

There is a cafe named Litt Up Kyoto near Gion-shijo station (Keihan line). It takes 3 mins on foot. Usually, it is open from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, but if you would like to go there in the afternoon, you have to go to another cafe named The Mark Fizz. They are open from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Of course, you can make a reservation. Both of cafes offer almost the same type of things. But you have to be careful: as these are outdoor cafes, they close on rainy days.

Litt Up Kyoto’s atomosphere is so calm, and everyone is talking comfortably, so you can take a break with alcohol here when you get tired or want to have a drink.

The interior is arranged with white color. On the weekends, there are many people drinking and talking pictures.

They serve a variety of drinks of many different colors. All of the pictures above are of alcohol drinks, but they also have soft drinks. Everything there looks pretty and gorgeous, so it is sure to be instabae. They have not only drinks, but also toast in case you get the munchies.

As you can see it, it’s so sweet toast and looks cute. They also serve ham and cheese toast.

If you are interested in this cafe or want to take pictures here, you should avoid rainy days. Don’t forget about that. They don’t have web site so please check their Instagram page.

LITT.UP KYOTO @litt_up_kyoto

THE MARK FIZZ ROOF TOP @the_mark_fizz_roof_top

There are lots of fashionable cafes in Kyoto and to find café is one of interesting things. As we recommended all three cafes, especially after lunch time will be busy and crowded so you should avoid crowded time and think about time and weather. Let’s take a break at fashionable cafes in Kyoto and take plenty of super stylish photos.

As you can see, with a little effort, you can visit a stylish, instabae cafe right here in Kyoto and have a great afternoon with your friends or family. Just don’t forget to post photos of your visit on Instagram. What are you waiting for?

Das Café Wife and Husband

von Reini Doi und Seiji Kotoku

Obwohl schönes Wetter ist, hat man nichts zu essen mitgenommen. Wenn man etwas dabei hätte, könnte man picknicken. Sicher kennt jeder diese Situation. Wenn man das Café Wife and Husband kennt, ist das kein Problem mehr. Das Café verleiht schicke Picknicksets, mit denen man am Flussufer picknicken und dabei schicke Bilder machen kann.

Das Café Wife and Husband befindet sich in einem alten Einfamilienhaus und wird, wie der Name schon sagt, von einem Ehepaar betrieben. Der nächste Bahnhof ist Kitaoji. Von dort kann man das Café in circa 5 Gehminuten erreichen.

Das Haus ist zwar klein, aber trotzdem einfach zu finden, weil es ganz charakteristisch aussieht. An manchen Tagen steht dort eine kleine Schlange an. Viele erkennt man als ausländische Touristen, aber auch Ortsansässige kommen immer wieder dorthin.

Wenn man das Café betritt, spürt man gleich, dass der Kaffee (500 Yen) und die Speisen hier mit Sorgfalt ausgesucht werden. Der im Café geröstete Kaffee trägt den liebevollen Namen “daughter”. Neben dieser Originalröstung gibt es auch noch Kaffee, der aus Guatemala, Brasilien und Kolumbien kommt. Die Auswahl an Speisen ist zwar limitiert aber dennoch ausreichend. Besonders zu empfehlen ist ein Kuchen aus Nüssen und Trockenobst (300 Yen), der sehr gut zum Kaffee und oder zum Tee (600 Yen) schmeckt. Man sollte auch den Honigkäsekuchen probieren. Sogar das Geschirr, das im Café benutzt wird, ist sehr geschmackvoll.

Auch die Einrichtung ist mit Sorgfalt ausgesucht. Im Café gibt es antike Möbel und Geschirr, auch Vasen mit schönen Blumen, und alles ist sehr stylish. Inmitten der antiken Möbel fühlt man sich überaus behaglich. Wie bereits beschrieben, sind die ausleihbaren Picknicksets ganz beliebt. Zu einem Set gehören eine Thermosflasche voll mit Kaffee, kleine Süßigkeiten, Kaffeebecher und eine Tischdecke. Gegen einen zusätzlichen Aufpreis bekommt man noch antike Hocker, eine Bank und einen Tisch. In der Thermosflasche gibt es viel Kaffee; damit kann man lange Zeit am Flussufer verbringen.

Webseite: http://www.wifeandhusband.jp/-shopinfo

Location: 106-6, Shimouchikawara-cho,Koyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto, 603-8132, Japan

Öffnungzeiten: 10:00 - 17:00

Die Küche schließt um 15:00 (für Picknick-Sets) bzw. 16:30 im Café

Igel Café

von Karen Imura, Motoki Ueno und Miu Okazaki

Ladenschild mit Igel

Waren Sie schon mal in einem Tier-Café? Vielleicht gehen Sie gern ins Katzencafé oder ins Hundecafé. Dort kann man mit kleinen Tieren spielen, zum Beispiel beim Tee trinken. Wenn man kein eigenes Haustier halten kann, dann geht man mit Freunden oder der Familie ins Tier-Cafe. Der Besuch kostet 1200 Yen für 60 Minuten. In Kyoto gibt es sogar ein Igel-Café.

Igel-Cafés gibt es nur in Japan. Sie sind beliebt, weil man dort neue Erfahrungen sammeln kann.

Wegbeschreibung

Das Igel-Café Tom’s Mr Hedgie ist ein wunderbarer Ort für Tierfreunde. Es ist das einzige Igel-Café in Kyoto und befindet sich in der Nähe des berühmten Kiyomizu Tempels und des Yasaka Schreins. Der Besuch kostet 700 Yen für 20 Minuten , 1.400 Yen für 40 Minuten und 2.100 Yen für 60 Minuten.

Der Igel

Im Igelcafé gibt es viele Igel in etwa 10 verschiedenen Farben. Sie sind manchmal ruhig und manchmal lebendig. Grundsätzlich schlafen sie am Morgen und Mittag, weil sie nachtaktive Tiere sind. Man kann die Igel mit Regenwürmern füttern. Wenn man sich vor den Stacheln fürchtet oder eine Tierallergie hat, kann man Handschuhe anziehen. Man muss auch ein bisschen aufpassen, dass die Igel den Finger nicht mit Futter verwechseln, denn ihr Sehvermögen ist schlecht.

Es gibt im Igelcafé weibliche Mitarbeiter zwischen 20 und 25 Jahren und einige können Fremdsprachen sprechen. Auch für ausländische Gäste ist ein Besuch unproblematisch, weil es auf Englisch eine Erklärung gibt, wie man die Igel behandeln soll. Der Laden ist klein und hat eine heimelige Atmosphäre. Viele Kunden sind Studenten, viele davon kommen mit Freunden. Einige kommen auch, um Igel zu kaufen. In letzter Zeit sind viele Kunden Ausländer, die auch allein kommen.

Das Igel-Cafe ist immer voll, besonders am Wochenende zwischen 13 und 17 Uhr. Es ist besser, vor dem Besuch dort zu reservieren.

http://tomsmrhedgie.com/#zone1

10 Minutes Mont Blanc

by Shiori Iwawaki, Maya Kondo & Eri Inaba

Do you know the Mont Blanc that you cannot eat without lining up in Kyoto?　Mont Blanc is originally from Piemonte, Italy and it means White Mountain. A French chef was the original creator using a chestnut candied syrup called marron glace. In 1933, a Japanese chef, Mr. Keizo Nishida, went to Italy to learn how to make Mont Blanc, bringing the technique back to Japan. However, at that time not many people knew about Mont Blanc in Japan. Nowadays Mont Blanc is a very famous sweet in Japan. People think that Kyoto is famous for green tea, but it’s not 100% true. There is a now a shop called 10 Minutes Mont Blanc in Kyoto which is very famous right now. In this article, we would like to introduce about this shop’s history, its Mont Blanc, and interview its owner.

The owner of 10 Minutes Mont Blanc is named Mr. Keizo. He opened the shop in Kyoto because he was born here in Kyoto. One more reason is he worked at many bakery stores after he graduated from high school and he wanted to run a shop by himself. The reason he wanted to work at a bakery store was when he was a high school student was he first saw a wedding cake. From that time, he wanted to make a cake by himself. He finally managed to open his own shop at near Nijo castle, in the Sanjo-kai shopping district. The name of the shop was ‘Sweet Cafe Kyoto Keizo’. Before he managed to run this shop, he had worked at a first-class confectionery shop for 40 years. At that time, he wanted to open a shop offering to customers amazing sweets as soon as they are ready to serve. It has made happen by building his own pastry studio. He restricted a building which had been there for 100 years to create a beautiful shop. Because of it, people can feel missing and relaxing.

From inside his shop, we can see the garden that leads to the pastry studio. We can sit in a terrace seat and smell the scent of sweet cake. Then, we can observe the process of making the cake. Mr. Keizo wants to give customers a fresh taste, because he believes a cake that has already spent time waiting to be eaten is not a good for offering to a hungry customer. The concept of this shop is based on this principle, so they give the cakes to the customers as soon as they are prepared.

We asked Mr. Keizo about how to make the Mont Blanc, so he gave us permission to go inside of the pastry studio. Therefore, we were able to watch carefully how the 10 Minutes Mont Blanc was being made. First of all, they squeeze whip cream in the middle of a plate, and then put a sponge cake on the top the whip cream. Next, they put a crunchy meringue over the sponge cake. This crunchy meringue is the most important point of the 10 Minutes Mont Blanc. It takes about three hours to make the meringue, and the chefs have to pay close attention because the baking time may vary depending on how they mix the dough. Toward the end of the process, they squeeze chestnut paste all over the meringue. Finally, they decorate around the plate with chocolate sauce, sprinkle some white sugar powder and put a single chestnut on the top of the cake. They make the Mont Blanc after their customers place their order. They don`t stock the Mont Blanc in advance, but rather they start the process after the customers place their order. After the customers order the Mont Blanc, they can go to the pastry studio and watch how their pastry is being made. 10 Minutes Mont Blanc means if you eat it within 10 minutes, you can feel the meringue is crunchy. But if you wait longer than 10 minutes to eat it, the meringue become soft and the texture become totally different from the crunchy one. Therefore, you can enjoy two kinds of meringue textures with just one Mont Blanc.

We asked Mr. Keizo how he invented the 10 Minutes Mont Blanc. Then, he answered that he wanted to use meringue as a protagonist in this sweet story. As everyone knows, meringue always plays a supporting role; never the protagonist in the production of a sweet. He discovered the right type of meringue when he was making a chiffon cake, as it uses a lot of meringue. When he tried to bake the meringue, it became crunchy. This was the first step in the process of making Keizo’s Mont Blanc. Moreover, Mr. Keizo wanted to let the customer imagine the inside of the cake. The top four most popular cakes are shortcake, cheese cake, minnefeuille and chocolate cake, but these cakes can be seen through to the inside. On the other hand, the inside of a Mont Blanc can not be seen, so we must imagine what it looks like and what it is made of. However, to make use meringue as the main ingredient, you cannot take the pastry homme because it will not last long. The most challenging part of making a 10 Minutes Mont Blanc is to make a crunchy meringue. Therefore, they can only serve the pastry in the shop itself in order to keep the meringue crunchy.

Mr. Keizo said that he was most confident about his staff. This is because they are all able to explain about the menu and go to the customer’s seat and explain about the food and dessert. Also, Mr. Keizo wants all the customers to enjoy and smile and go back home and feel that they were glad to come to this store. His happiest moment is when a customer says with a big smile, “It is so delicious, I will come to this shop again.” For him, the 10 Minutes Mont Blanc is like his child because he worked so hard through trial and error to create it. In the future, he wants to make a new kind of Mont Blanc that is relevant to the season in which it is eaten, and made with seasonal ingredients like pistachio, cherry blossom, pumpkin, and many others. Moreover, in the shop there are many other kinds of cake, so he wants the customer to taste other things as well. Now, many people say “Let’s go and eat 10 Minutes Mont Blanc,” but he wants customers to say “Let’s go to Mr. Keizo’s shop” and “which cake should I eat today.” This is his goal and he wants to spread this shop around the world as well.

As you can see, Mr. Keizo has a lot of feeling for 10 Minutes Mont Blanc, and his store’s staff can give customers that same feeling when they explain about the way to eat the Mont Blanc. The staff said to us “Let’s enjoy the sound of the crunchy meringue, using a fork and knife.” After that, we started to eat with a fork and knife, and listened the sound carefully. When we eat just Mont blanc, it taste still dark, but when we eat it with chocolate sauce, that is becoming sweeter. From the beginning to the end, we could enjoy feeling the change of texture. After we left the shop, there was a long line of people waiting to get in. Finally, Mr, Keizo described 10 Minute Mont Blanc is as his son, so you should go and try this amazing cake.

Enjoying Tabe-aruki

by Yukari Kimura and Shoko Ota

What is “Tabe-aruki”

In English, tabe-aruki means ‘eating while strolling.’ It may seem similar to food sold on the streets because it is bought and then eaten right on the spot or while walking. However, the concept of “tabe-aruki” did not exist in past. The action of eating while walking was considered bad manners for Japanese people even just a decade ago. So, this can be viewed as a new trend in Japanese culture.

Selected Tabearuki-foods

Shinkyogoku street

Rondon-yaki

Rondon-yaki is a bite-size castella filed with white bean paste. Its taste is light and sweet. It is very cheap, so it is suitable for snack time! One piece is ¥50!
This shop does not accept credit cards, so please prepare cash.

Rondon-ya (Location:京都市中京区新京極四条上ル中之町５６５)

Rondon-yaki

Mamezen Cafe

Mermen cafe is an excellent soft ice cream shop.

Mamezen Cafe （Location: 京都市中京区新京極六角下る中筋町487-4 TEL: 070-5263-1552 Open: 12:00〜18:30）

We recommend the Kuromamt-Kinako and the Chirimen-Sansho flavored ice creams.

Kuromamt-Kinako

Chirimen-Sansho flavor

Kiyomizu area

清水順正おかべ屋（’Okabe-ya’ A Tofu restaurant）

This restaurant is a tofu restaurant but also has the cafe and the souvenir shop next to it. You will enjoy tofu, yuba, kinako (soybean powder) and other soy foods there.

Okabe-ya（Location: 京都府京都市東山区清水２丁目２３９ TEL: 075-541-7111 Open: 10:30〜17:00 ）

The shop, which you can see on the right side in this photo, is their souvenir shop. And you can buy some tabe-aruki food there.

The Kyo-yasai castella is ¥350 for 15 pieces.

The Kyo-yasai castella baked in the shape of Kyoto vegetables. And the castella contains some kinako. So, it is savory and tastes like soybean powder a little bit.

馬鈴 (‘Bazu’―A Japanese sweets cafe)

Bazu（Location: 京都府京都市東山区五条橋東６丁目５８３−３７ TEL: 075-525-0100）

You can sample various kinds of Japanese sweets in this cafe. For example, rice dumplings, warabi-mochi, shiratama and so on. We want to introduce warabi-mochi. In this cafe it is made in the shape of a rabbit. You can choose from three different kind of sauces: Kuromitsu-kinako (black honey-kinako), matcha (green tea), yuzu (citron).

Fushimi area

Kyomame-an

Kyomame-an is a sweet made from soybean milk. They use only soybeans grown in Japan. This shop’s most popular item is soft ice cream made from soy milk. You can chose from many different flavors. They also have monaka (wafer) with silky tofu and green tea tofu.

Black Sesame, Yuzu, Purple potato, soda, mango, cassis, chocolate, apricot, strawberry

monaka(wafer) with silky tofu & green tea tofu

Kyomame-an (Location: 京都市伏見区深草祓川町16-20)

Matsuya

Fushimi Inari Shrine is one of the largest and most famous shrines in Kyoto. It is a fox shrine, so a lot of souvenirs with a fox motif are sold there. That is the same for foods; the shrine’s famous miso rice cracker is modeled after the face of the fox. Matsuya has been selling these miso rice crackers for a very long time. Of course it is the stores most popular item. It comes in two sizes: large, Kitsune-chan, and small, Kogitune-chan―kitsune means fox in Japanese; kogitsune is a young fox. They are parent and child and are the representative characters of this shop.

Kitsune-chan rice cracker

Matsuya (Location: 京都市伏見区深草一の坪町27)

Nishiki market street

花よりキヨエ（’Hanayori Kiyoe’ An olive oil shop）

Hanayori Kiyoe （Location: 京都市中京区御幸町通蛸薬師下ル船屋町399番地さしあのビル1階 Open:10:00-18:00(Mon-Fri)/10:00-19:00(Sat-Sun)）

Although this shop sells mostly olive oil, it also sells a variety of tabe-aruki food. For example they sell nishiki-ika (fried squid), karaage, (fried chicken) Nishiki croquette, and many other flavored croquettes. All croquettes made by this shop use olive oil. (When Japanese people make croquette, they often use salad oil or lard.)

湯葉クリームコロッケ One is the soy milk skin cream croquette which costs ￥290.

コロコロコ（’korokoroko’ A traditional snack shop)

korokoroko（Location: 京都市中京区東魚屋町185-3-1 TEL: 075-256-2108 Open: 10:00-18:00）

はんなりソフト The Hannari-Soft is a type of ice cream that has 3 flavors: milk, matcha, and matcha and milk swirl that costs ￥380. The Hannari-Soft ice cream is covered with a topping called arare (rice ball cracker).

井上佃煮店 (‘Inoue’ A prepared food shop)

Inoue（Location: 京都市中京区錦小路通柳馬場西入ル中魚屋町485 TEL: 075-221-4357 Open: 9:00-18:00 Close: every Wednesday/first Sunday, Third Sunday）

This shop began on Nishiki street in 1884. You can buy many prepared foods that use kyo-vegetables (vegetables grown in Kyoto). In addition, we would like to focus on a special product from this shop: the chocolate croquette (￥100).

the chocolate croquette cost only ¥100

The croquette’s middle is chocolate! Does that even go together? We would like to recommend this and want you to try it and judge if it’s good or not.

Machiya-Café

Von Iori Sho und Riho Kubota

Was ist ein Machiya?

In Kyoto gibt es alte Häuser, die “Machiya” heißen. Diese Häuser sind besonders berühmte Sehenswürdigkeiten in Kyoto. Interessant an den Häusern sind die schmalen Eingänge im Gegensatz zur Tiefe der Häuser. Wir bezeichnen sie deshalb als „Schlafzimmer für Aale“. Die Häuser grenzen nach vorne zur Straße und an der Seite direkt an das nächste Haus, damit man mit den Nachbarn sprechen kann. Ihre Geschichte ist alt; es gibt sie schon seit der Heianzeit (794-1185), aber viele Gebäude fielen 1864 einem Brand zum Opfer, der Bakumatsu no Kinmon no Hen genannt wird. Also wurden die Häuser, die man jetzt in Kyoto sehen kann, erst danach in der Taisho- bis Showazeit gebaut. Momentan beträgt die Zahl der Machiya-Häuser in Kyoto etwa 50.000. Aber in 10% davon wohnt niemand mehr. Außerdem sind 30 % der Machiya-Bewohner über 60 Jahre alt. Die Kosten für Reparaturen und das Instandhalten der Häuser sind hoch. Deshalb ist es problematisch, so ein Haus an die eigenen Kinder zu vererben. Noch dazu sind die Machiya bei Erdbeben und Feuer gefährdeter als moderne Häuser. Deswegen schrumpft die Zahl der Häuser um 2% pro Jahr. Also, was kann man machen, um die Probleme zu lösen?

Wissen Sie, was ein “Machiya-Café” ist?

In Kyoto gibt es viele alte Bürgerhäuser oder Machiya, die über 100 Jahre alt sind. Und einige Häuser oder Machiya sind als Cafés wieder aufgebaut worden. Diese Häuser nennt man “Machiya-Café”. In den Cafés kann man in angenehmer Atmosphäre Kuchen essen und Tee oder Kaffee trinken, als ob man dort selbst zu Hause wäre. Dort ist es sehr ruhig und entspannend. In vielen der Cafés gibt es alte japanische Möbel, die in der Vergangenheit tatsächlich benutzt wurden, und interessante Bücher oder Zeitschriften. Deshalb bleibt man oft lange Zeit im Café, ohne es zu merken. In Gokōmachi-Sanjō gibt es auch ein umgebautes Café, das jetzt 120 Jahre alt ist und eigentlich ein Hotel war. In dem Café gibt es altmodische Stühle und Tische. Im Erdgeschoss ist ein Café und im ersten Stock ist ein Hotel, deshalb kann man dort auch übernachten. Auf der Speisekarte sind viele Gerichte mit saisonalem Gemüse oder Fleisch, und man genießt das Essen. Das Machiya, das Kyotoer Gebäude aus alten Zeiten, wird immer noch als Café von vielen Leuten geliebt. Wir haben einmal das Machiya-Café “Umezono CAFÉ & GALLERY“ besucht, das an der Takoyakushi-Straße ist. Das Innere des Cafés ist im westlichen Stil renoviert, aber teilweise ist auch noch der alte Stil der Machiya erhalten geblieben. Deshalb kann man dort eine schöne Mischung aus Japanischem und Westlichem erleben. Wir haben zwei Gerichte bestellt, einen Pfannkuchen, der nach Grüntee aus Uji (eine Stadt bei Kyoto) schmeckt, und Mitarashi-Knödel mit süßer Sojasoße. Beides war sehr lecker und wir waren damit ganz zufrieden. Ein Kellner hat gesagt, dass viele Gäste sich über den Garten freuen, der eine Besonderheit des Machiya-Cafés ist, und den es in normalen Cafés nicht gibt. Wer in einem historischen Gebäude in Kyoto japanisches Essen genießen möchte, dem sei ein Besuch im Machiya-Café wärmstens empfohlen.

※Wussten Sie das?

„町屋“ (machiya) bedeutet „Geschäft“, aber „町家“ (chouka) bedeutet „Haus“.

Verkehrsverbindung

Hankyu-Karasuma oder U-Bahn-Station Shijo

Wegbeschreibung

Vom Ausgang Nr. 22 nach links und geradeaus bis zur 2. Straße (Takoyakushi-dori), dort links und dann geradeaus bis zum Café. Es dauert ca.15 min zu Fuß.

A Visit to Hiei

by Airi Kinoshita

About 1200 years ago, when Emperor Kammu established Heian-kyō (the former name of Kyoto city) as the capital of Japan, Mt.Hiei in the northeast of the city was regarded as the only defect in the city‘s wealth of natural advantages. No one would come near to the wild mountain as it was rumored that demons and evil spirits were hanging out there, so Emperor Kammu ordered the building of Enryakuji temple to appease or expel these demons and strengthen Kyoto’s defenses. Northeast is believed to be an unlucky direction in the Shinto religion, which accounts for why people often built temples or shrines in the northeast to create barriers against anything evil.

Now, Mt.Hiei is no longer the horrible place that troubled Emperor Kammu so much, rather, it has become a popular tourist spot. Many hotels and restaurants have been built in neighboring areas, and there is a cable car and a ropeway service also available. You will find many options open to you on your visit, but I would like to introduce two that I think are quite special.

The Garden Museum

The first spot is The Garden Museum on Hiei. The museum grounds are designed using the artworks of French and Dutch impressionists like Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh for inspiration. Visitors will be welcomed by about 100,000 flowers of 1400 varieties including roses, lilacs, water lilies, daffodils and so on. One of the most popular gardens is the Water Lilies Garden, which was inspired by the artwork of Monet. Monet admired Japanese sense of beauty so much that he made a great Japanese style garden, including a lake with floating water lilies, around his residence, and drew several pictures of it. I am sure you will understand why this type of garden fascinated Monet so much when you visit here. Afterwards, when you got tired of walking, you can always stop in at Café de Paris and enjoy a drink from their selection of herb teas. Moreover, Maison de Fleur, a souvenir shop in the museum, not only sells French general goods or aroma oils but also provides workshops on how to make original herb soaps.

The Cafe de Paris

The second spot I feel is most worthy is Hiei-zan Enryakuji. I have already introduced the origins of the temple, but now it has become a far more visitor-friendly place. The temple welcomes visitors who lead busy lives and are in need of some peace and quiet, and allows them to experience zazen or shakyo. Zazen is a style of meditation done in a cross-legged position, and shakyo is the transcribing of sutras. Both require you to put all other thoughts out of your mind and concentrate on self-identification. In the clean, fresh air and nature of Mt.Hiei, you will be able to forget all that troubles you in daily life and feel as if you are reborn.

Enryakuji Temple

Hiei autumn colours

Yojiya Cafes

Maya Inoue & Chihiro Kitagawa

Yojiya’ is well known as a brand of cosmetics from Kyoto. However, lately, Yojiya has also come to be associated with a certain kind of café chic.

Here we will introduce ‘Yojiya Cafés’

Yojiya cafes are located mainly in Kyoto. We went to the one on Sanjo street, just five minutes walk from Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae (Kyoto City Hall) subway station.

the red sofas

From the outside, it looks very simple and calm, but actually, when we went there after school at around 7.00 pm, there were many customers, and almost all of them were women, lounging on trendy red sofas.

the logo

This café has the kind of atmosphere that welcomes the lone visitor, and there is a Yojiya Cosmetics store right next door. This is the logo for Yojiya café … pretty cool!!

Also, in the café, there are many café goods. For example, mugs, tumblers, glasses, T-shirts, pens, bags, and so on ….all of them are very cute, and we wanted to buy them.

Pizza at Yojiya

We were pretty hungry, so we ordered some pizza and dessert. It was really yummy!
Also on the menu, there is spaghetti, salad, parfait, floats, cappuccino, cakes, monaka, etc. In the morning there is a special breakfast menu offering, for example, toast and bread with coffee.

flag!

The staff here are very professional and kind, and the red apron they wear as a uniform is kind of cute. I asked a staff member what the concept of this café is, and she told us that it is that people both young and old can come here and feel at ease.

In Kyoto, there are three Yoyija cafes in very different locations: Sanjo, Ginkaku Temple and SaganoArashiyama. There are also two cafes in Tokyo, but these have different menus. The great thing is, you can enjoy a lot of different things in each Yojiya cafe! For example, in the Sanjo cafe, you can eat their special apple pie. We didn’t eat it, but it looked very delicious.

In addition, in the Sanjo café there is a handy information desk, which gives out info about the store, the cosmetic range, as well as useful sightseeing tips for Kyoto visitors. To be honest, the prices here are a little high for students like us, but the food and drinks taste so good it is worth paying a little more to eat here.

sweet

Finally, we will introduce the locations and opening times of the three Kyoto cafes.

1 YOJIYA cafe Sagano-Arashiyama
Open 10:00 ~ 1800 (last order 17:30)
No regular holiday.
The nearest station is the Randen Railway Arashiyama station.

2 YOJIYA cafe Sanjo
Open 10:00 ~ 2200 (last order 21:30)
No regular holiday.
The nearest station is Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae (Kyoto City Hall) subway station.

3 YOJIYA cafe Ginkaku Temple
Open 10.00 ~ 18.00 (last order 17.30)
Closed on Tuesdays.

This is the cappuccino. The cafe staff make it specially to order! It looked so nice, I hesitated to drink it.

cute

This is the apple pie. It is very sweet, and only available in the Sanjo cafe.

apple pie

This is the outside of the Yojiya Sanjo cafe. The look is really modern and fashionable. The cafe is also next to the Yojiya Cosmetics store, so it’s very convenient.

go to the cafe!

In Kyoto, there are a lot of cafes and shops to choose from, so it is hard to pick the best. So a lot of people get confused about where is good and how best to enjoy their time. We recommend this café, as we think it can be enjoyed by everyone; children, couples, families, elderly people and also foreigners!
Why not give it a try!