restaurant | The Kyoto Project

Table Manners of Japan

November 25, 2019

by　Natsuki Yamane and Aya Tanaka

Japan has many kinds of table manners. We will introduce about that.

Ohashi (chopsticks)

Have you ever been in trouble when you visit to Japan? Especially, you will be particularly confused with how to use Ohashi. I will solve all those problems.

How to use Ohashi

First, you have to holding a pair of chopsticks with index finger, middle finger and thumb. Then you are holding the other one with base of thumb and ring finger. This, in a nutshell, like holding a pencil.

Forbidden Manners of Ohashi Use

1. Sashi bashi means pointing at someone or something with chopsticks. If you do it, you make people feel uncomfortable.

2. Tsuki bashi means spearing food rather than holding it to eat. Chopsticks should be used to grab. The act of Tsuki bashi to become thought of as an insult to the person who made the food.

3. Mayoi bashi means holding or fluffy chopsticks over plates of food while deciding what to eat. At first, mayoi bashi is looks not good. In addition to this.

4. Hashi watashi mean passing and receiving a piece or chunk of food to or from each one. This is taboo, because it done when picking up the bones of the dead a funeral.

5. Neburi bashi means licking or sucking your chopsticks. Neburi bashi is make people around you uncomfortable. If chopsticks get dirty, wipe them with paper.

6. Tate bashi means sticking your chopsticks vertically into rice. This is how a bowl of rice presented to the spirit of a deceased person, at their deathbed or at a Buddhist altar. Tate bashi is an act of offering rice to a person who died at a funeral.

7. Chigiri bashi means holding each chopsticks in a separate hand and using them to tear food. Chopsticks used in pairs. So it is not allowed to use one by one.

8. Jika bashi means using your own chopsticks rather than serving chopsticks when taking food from a shared plate. Some people are fastidiousness and we are should be avoided. If you do not have chopsticks for separate, you can ask the clerk.

9. Mochi bashi means grabbing a dish, glass or bowl whilst holding chopsticks in the same hand. It is better not to hold chopsticks and bowls together, as you may drop the dishes.

10. Kaki bashi means holding a bowl to your mouth and shoveling food in quickly. It does not look good. There is such a scene in animation, but please do not imitate it. If you do it, maybe you will feel like two cents.

OTOSHI (appetizer)

Otoshi is a dish. That is automatically served when you enter a restaurant such as an Izakaya. This charge is basically up to about 500 yen. Sometime called Tsukidashi. Otoshi is like a service charge. You must pay it. The purpose is a gain time when until the food ordered by the customer is served. Please enjoy the otoshi culture because otoshi is unlisted on the menu.

Types of bar

1. Tachinomi Izakaya is a type of bar where you can stand without sitting on a chair and drink alcohol. Most of them are under the overpass.

2. Beer garden is a type of bar where you can enjoy drinking and eating of self-service in the open air. Beer garden is basically summer only. It held mainly on the roof of department store.

3. Yatai (stand) is a temporary store where you can easily enjoy food and drinks. The mainstream is to move from store to store and drink at various stores. It called Hashigozake.

Useful words at Izakaya

1. When checking if a seat is available. “seki aitemasuka?” (Are there seats available?)

2. When you want to order beer. “toriaezu namade.” (Please give me a beer for the time being.)

3. When calling a clerk. Raise your hand. Then “suimasen.” (Excuse me)

4. A signal to drinking. “kanpaai!” (Cheers)

5. A signal to start eating dishes. “itadakimasu.” (Prayer)

6. When you want to order the same drink again. “mouippai onegaisimasu” (Please give me same drink)

7. When you want water. “ohiya onegaisimas” (Please give me water)

8. When you want hot tea. “atatakai ocha(atucha) onegaisimasu” (Please give me hot tea.) ※Almost shops offer water and hot tea for free. It is better to order them after meals.

9. When you want to check. “okaikei onegaisimasu” or “oaiso onegaisimasu” (Check please.)

10. When you leaving the shop. “arigatougozaimasu” or “gotisousamadesita” (Thank you)

Meat of Kyoto

Introduction

There are many meat restaurants in Kyoto. Recently, there is an increase in the meat restaurants where delicious meat can be eaten cheaply. It is thought that the increase of foreign tourists visiting Japan is also greatly affected. Surprisingly, Kyoto is said to be the prefecture with the highest consumption of beef in Japan.

At this time, we are going to introduce the history of meat in Kyoto and three meat restaurants in Kyoto which we recommend.

First, it is said that the spread of beef among the common people was due to the appearance of Gyunabe (牛鍋) (Japanese stew using beef), the originator of Sukiyaki (すき焼き) at Meiji (明治) Period (1868 – 1912). After the war, ordinary people were not able to eat beef easily, but now they can eat it readily. So, we will recommend the meat restaurants where beef can eaten cheaply and delicious.

NIKUZAEMON

This restaurant was just opened in 2017. This is a meat restaurant which has an atmosphere like a cafe. It is very fashionable, so even women can easily enter. There are counter seats and table seats that are easy to use by one person in the restaurant. The main menu items are beef steak, pork steak, rice bowl, curry and a set menu. You can get 200g extra beef for plus 600 yen and 200g of extra pork for plus 300 yen. And SNS campaign is also carried out. If you upload the photo with the restaurant’s information on SNS you can get one free drink (soft drink or beer). Most items on the menu can be eaten for about 900 - 1500 yen.

＊Beef steak rice bowl 1200 yen (200g)

The portion size is large and meat is very tender. It uses a slightly hot soy based sauce. You can put some spices; pepper, cayenne pepper powder and salt, you can enjoy different tastes at the same time. (Rice bowl and curry includes a soup and pickles. Pork steak and beef steak includes a rice, salad, soup and pickles.)

TK HOUSE

This restaurant is a steak house, and which was opened on August 2, 2016. It serves good quality meat for low price. In addition to the matured steak, the steak bowl is also popular. The meat of this restaurant is tender and delicious. Also, there are table seats and counter seats. Inside the restaurant, it is a clean and spacious with a relaxed atmosphere.

＊steak bowl (ステーキ丼) 1,000 yen

(Only served at lunch time. It includes a salad and soup. A rice large serving is free.)

Meat is very tender. The sauce of this steak bowl is a little sweet. But this sauce matches rice very well. In addition, you put some fried garlic and some fried onion as a topping, you can enjoy more delicious steak bowl.

Niku Shokudou(肉食堂)

A famous Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) store in Kyoto runs this restaurant. So, you can enjoy good meat for low price. At first you enter the restaurant and buy a meal ticket with the ticket vender on the right. After that, the salesclerk will guide you to a seat. Because this restaurant has a lot of counter seats in addition to the table seats, you can go to eat willingly alone. There are a lot of toppings on the table such as garlic chips and red pepper flakes, seven kinds of spices (七味唐辛子). So, you can enjoy the change of taste.

＊Gorilla rice (ゴリラ飯)　880 yen

(It includes a salad and miso soup)

This is a bowl which has fibrous meat on rice. Spicy-sweet sauce soaks into the meat. This sauce matches rice very much. And taste becomes mellow when you mix it with an egg. Also, the laver is a good accent.

Restaurant Information

・Name: NIKUZAEMON (食堂肉左衛門）

・Address: Second Shinwa Hall F2, 46-2 Kita Yakake-cho, Saiin, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto city, Kyoto

・Nearest station: about 5 minutes from Hankyu Saiin station on foot

・Phone number: 050-5594-5028

・Business hour: 11:00~15:00 (L.O.14;30) / 17:00~21:00 (L.O. 20:30)

・Name: TK house

・Address: 107 Suzaku apartment, 7 Higashi Nakamizu-cho, Saiin, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto prefecture

・Nearest station: about 10 minutes from Hankyu-Kyoto Line “Saiin station” on foot

・Business hours: 11:30~14:15 18:00~22:00

・Regular holidays: Wednesday

・Phone number: 050-5592-4973

・Name: Niku Shokudou(肉食堂)

・Address: 25 Kashiwaya-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto prefecture

・Nearest station: about 5 minutes from Hankyu-Kyoto Line “Omiya station” on foot

・Business hours: 11:45~14:00 17:00~21:00

・Regular holiday: Irregular

・Phone number: 075-754-8282

Donguri Restaurant Chain

by Saki Hirota

Donguri is a popular okonomiyaki restaurant chain in Kyoto with over 300,000 customers per year. The total number of restaurants in the chain is now nine, with the ninth store opening in 2015. Among them, the most famous store is the one at Kyoto Station Square. It is frequented by not only people from Kyoto, but also from other areas of Japan and even from abroad. Most of its seats are filled with reservations every day, so many customers are often waiting to get inside. The secret of its popularity is in its stylish appearance. It is not a typical Okonomiyaki shop. In fact, it has a menu with over 200 types of food and drink on it. Donguri is even highly ranked at a gourmet site famous in Japan, called Taberogu. Also, many entertainers and celebrities have eaten there.

More About Donguri

The very first Donguri restaurant was started in 1977 in near Fujinomori station of the Fushimi area in the south of Kyoto. This shop was built by Kouichi Kawamura. At that time, the shop was very small and personally managed, with only 24 seats for customers. The owner’s vision was to make Donguri the number one okonomiyaki store in Kyoto, as measured by sales, profit rate, number of stores, number of visitors and brand awareness. The restaurant strives to use local products for items on its menu. Donguri is committed to making sure that all of the following items in its restaurant are locally produced: flour, rice, vegetables, soy sauce, sake, tea, pickles, sauce, tofu, and beer (Suntory Premium Malts).

Currently, there are nine Donguri shops: Kyoto Station Square・ Kyoto Station Square East ・Shijo-Kawaramachi ・Shijo-Teramachi ・Shijo-Karasuma ・Shijo-Omiya ・Sanjo-Kiyamachi ・Shin-Horikawa ・Yamashina ※Fuzinomori store was closed in 2008.

Recommended Menu Items

Lotus root with shrimp

Lotus root with shrimp is very popular at Donguri. Its taste is surprising for both Japanese and foreigners. It is delicious.

Tonpei-yaki

Tonpei-yaki is the most recommended item on the menu. It is loved by many customers. It is made from pork rib, eggs, cabbage, leeks, ginger, and tonpei-sauce.

Gyoza

Chinese-style dumplings are very popular amongst customers, especially foreigners. They are delicious and very inexpensive.

Yakisoba

It is normal and standard Yakisoba. Many customers order it every day. It is made with beef, pork and squid.

Tonari-no-Micchan

This is okonomiyaki. Most okonomiyaki in Japan is made with cabbage, but this one uses kujo-leeks from Kyoto, chikuwa, and konjak. Chikuwa is like a fish sausage, while konjak is a jelly-like food made from the starch of the konjak potato. This results in a unique new taste and texture.

Donguri also has an online shop where you can buy items from the menu. Most people order it so they can prepare and eat it in the comfort of their own home. http://www.dongurionline.com/

As you can see, Donguri is very famous store in Kyoto. If you come to Kyoto, you should go to this store. Which menu are very good taste. Also, many foreigners came to 2 consecutive days to this shop.

Great Food Hall at Kyoto Tower

By Kensei Iizuka and Takanori Tsuhako

Kyoto Tower

As you know, Kyoto city is the main city in Kyoto prefecture and it is really lively. Of course, you can find a lot of nice places in the city like cafés, restaurants, clothing stores, general stores, temples, shrines and so on. Moreover, this city is also has a great edifice that can be seen from many parts of this city. That is Kyoto Tower. It is 131 meters high and is the tallest construction in Kyoto city. From this building, you can enjoy the panoramic view of the city. Of course, you can also see some famous historical buildings like Kiyomizu-Dera temple.

Not only can you enjoy the view, you can enjoy some facilities. For example, a beer and BBQ garden is on the 10^th floor and Kansai Tourist Information Center is on the 3^rd floor and so on. This article is focused on the Food Hall on the B1, or basement, floor.

Food Hall

There are some good facilities in Kyoto Tower and one is the Food Hall on the B1 floor. There are 19 restaurants in this food hall including typical Japanese food like Sushi. This food hall has really varied kinds of restaurants such as Chinese food, Mexican food, sweets and bars serving alcohol.

There are some good points of this food hall. First, there are many kinds of restaurant. You can eat beef, pork, chicken, curry, ramen noodles, soba (Japanese traditional noodles), pancakes and doughnuts. In addition, there is a restaurant for vegans and vegetarians. Second, this food hall is big and there are a lot of seats. On the weekend, every place near Kyoto station gets really crowded. That is why, if you find a good restaurant, you have to wait for a long time. On the other hand, you can find your seats more easily at this food hall. Last, you and your friends can choose your favorite food. It is usual for food hall but it is a big merit for using food hall. You can eat what you really want to eat and you can also drink alcohol. The experience at this food hall should be a good memory of your trip.

Recommended Restaurant

Gottie’s BEEF

If you would like to have beef, this restaurant is highly recommended. The beef served here has been carefully selected considering thing such as district where the cows were raised and using only the choice cuts of beef. In addition, it takes 40 days to mature the beef. The stage of production is called “dried-aging method.” By this method, the flavor of the beef will be enhanced. The steak sauce is very well matched with the beef.

KYOTOSENMARU Syakariki murasaki

Ramen noodle is one of the most popular foods in Japan and you should try it if you come to Japan. Ramen noodles in Japan are served in various flavors like shio (salt), tonkotsu (pork bone) and shoyu (soy sauce). Syakariki’s noodles have soy sauce taste but the broth that accompanies them is also made of seafood products and chicken. That is why Japanese like ramen noodles. Japanese people like to eat ramen noodles after drinking so, if you like to drink alcohol, try eating ramen noodles after that.

List of Shops

How to enjoy your meal at KYOTO TOWER SANDO

In the dining hall, which is like a food court, you can sit in any vacant seat. This means your party can buy food from different restaurants.

1. Order
  
  When you decide what you would like to have, please go to the individual restaurant and order your meal. Please pay at this time. You can use not only money but also credit cards.
2. Wait
  
  The staff will give you a bell. You can go back to your seat and wait until the bell rings, please.
3. Pick Up
  
  After the bell rings, go to the restaurant again and pick your order up, please. You can also help yourself to water if you want to.
4. Return
  
  After finishing your meal, please return the empty dishes to the restaurant. You can easily find the sign “Return Here” there.
  
  Access and Information

You can come to Kyoto station by JR, Kyoto Subway Karasuma line, Kyoto City Bus, or by taxi, bicycle or private transportation. You can come to KYOTO TOWER SANDO directly from the underground shopping area called Porta. If you are above ground, you can come from an entrance which is located at the corner of Karasuma-dori and Shiokoji-dori intersection. Don’t worry. It is easy to find KYOTO TOWER.

Opening hours are from 9am to 9pm (Final Entry 8:40pm). In Japan, restaurants generally stop taking orders about 30 minutes before closing time. Customers are expected to finish their food and drinks by closing time and leave soon after. The telephone number is 075-361-3215 (9am to 8pm). The address is 721-1, Karasuma-dori Shichijo-kudaru Higashi-shio-koji-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi 600-8216.

Guesthouse Len

by Rena Tokunaga, Maya Kondo & Riku hamaguchi

Len is both a hostel and a café, with a bar and restaurant. It is located about an 8-minute walk from Hankyu Kawaramachi Station. Access to the downtown Kyoto area and the Kamogawa River is convenient, so you can see the beautiful view of Kyoto’s mountains as you approach. Len has a café on the first floor and a hostel on the second floor, so you can enjoy yourself even you don`t stay overnight at the hostel.

Staying at the Hostel

Len has six different types of rooming options. There are Mixed Dormitories, Female Rooms, Queen-size Double Rooms, King-size Rooms, Twins Rooms, and Triple Rooms. You can choose the one you want. The hostel can accommodate approximately 70 guests at a time.

First of all, they have dormitories. If you stay there, you have to share a room with other tourists. In the mixed dormitory, you will share one room with 6~8 people. In that room, men and women can share the room. The price is 2,600 yen per person for an 8-persson room, and 2,800 yen per person for a 6-person room.

In the female dormitory, only women are allowed to stay. So if you come to Japan with only women, it is the recommended room for you. The price is from 3,000 yen for one person.

Next, they have private rooms. In the twin room, there is one bunk bed and a desk if you want to work. Moreover, you can watch the sunrise from the window as well. The price is from 3,500 yen per person.

The triple room has a bunk bed and a single bed. It is bigger than the twin room and also you can see the view of the rising sun. The price of this room is 3,200 yen per person.

The queen double room is quite spacious. It includes a queen-size bed (1700mm), a desk, chair, and a washstand. This room is designed to make you feel at home. They prepare amenities as well. The price of the room is 4,400 yen per person.

The king double room is their biggest room of all. It has a king-size bed (1940mm), your own desk, chair, and washstand. It is equipped with three big windows out of which you can see a spectacular view of Kyoto. You must be satisfied with this room, as you relax and enjoy. The price of the room is 5,400 yen per person.

All shower rooms and lavatories are shared with all guests and open 24 hours. So, you cannot make noise at midnight, for it would disturb other guests. In addition to that, they do not have a curfew, so please consider the other guests if you come back at night or early in the morning.

Check-in & out

Check in time is from 4pm to 10pm. Please make sure to arrive before 10pm. Check out time is by 11am. They can keep your luggage before check-in and after check-out. It cost you a small fee if you want to keep your luggage the day before you check-in or the day after you check-out.

Café bar and dining

The main floor has a café bar and a diner. These are open to guests and visitors.

Len wanted to improve their coffee, so they asked ONIBUS COFFEE`s recommendation for the best coffee. They serve not only coffee, but also baked goods such as cakes and cookies. The Café is open from 8:00-22:00.

BAR & DINING

The café area is turned into a Bar starting from 17:00. In addition to local beer, they also serve brewed craft beer and bottled beer from all over the world, along with various cocktails. Here, we can enjoy an atmosphere open for conversation and drinks. And the food menu contains a rich variety of dishes, such as all sorts of rice omelets and seasonal items. There are seasonal menu and rare menu that it is contend about “kyo-yasai” , variety of country’s food and traditional food. If you could eat only vegetable, staff and cook can make only contained vegetable meals. If you would not eat a lot of salty nutrition, you can tell staff “please decrease salt in meals”. Staff and cook can make decreased salty nutrition’s meals. And I want you to eat “variety county food”. There are rare meals that it is African past, Italian pasta, Spanish meat omelet and ancient Japanese meals. Ordinary people could not eat and see some it. You can go and relax its menu and you had never seen menus. We recommend that you must go and see your both eye and eye. Probably you will be astonished.

Voices of the Staff

Mr. M

Please visit us by all means because my restaurant is a very cozy space. When you come to Len, we will give the best time to you by serving your our most recommended food and alcoholic drinks.

Ms. R

Len is very recommended shop in because foreign guests very often want to use English with Japanese guests. Also, there are rare alcoholic drinks that cannot be found elsewhere. I think that enjoy because there is a local and limited menu of each country. We look forward to your visit.

Mr. N

We have a lot of foreigners who speak Japanese fluently, so I do not worry if you cannot speak English well. Please have a conversation with them because there are a lot of foreigners who want to know more about Kyoto. We look forward to your visit.

Conclusion

We strongly recommend that you go to Len if you want to speak English and learn about a foreign culture. We guess Len is the best space for foreign lovers because Len has a lot of foreigner guests. Also, the food is delicious and alcoholic drinks are rich in variety. So, you can try a lot of things. In addition, Len is convenient because it is open from 8 o’clock in the morning until 12 o’clock in the evening. Make sure you pay a visit to Len soon!

Restaurant Touyoutei

by Maya Kondo, Shiori Iwawaki & Eri Inaba

In Japan, we call hamburgers ‘hamburgers’, but there is no good English word for hanba-gu, unless you include ‘Hamberg Steak’ or ‘Salisbury Steak’. Hanba-gu is made from minced meat, onions, eggs, milk, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Actually, the word hanba-gu is not English, but rather came from the name of a city in Germany: Hamberg. In Japan, the hanba-gu is a very popular food for people of all ages and there are many shops serving it in Japan. However, the most delicious hanba-gu shop in Kyoto is called, Touyotei. Touyotei is loved by many Japanese people because it has a long history and offer its customers a wide variety of delicious food. The head restaurant/office is a 4-minute walk from Kitayama subway station.

In the 30^th year of the Meiji Period (1897), Takahashi Ginjiro served western cuisine at the restaurant of a hotel in the Kawaramachi district of Kyoto city. At that time, western foods were too expensive for the average citizen to afford, so he wanted them to know how wonderful foods these were. On the 21st of December, 1966, he opened his own restaurant, called Kyapitaru Touyoutei in the Kitayama district of Kyoto. When he ran the restaurant in Kitayama, there were no buildings around it. A few years later, however, because of the new subway line reaching Kitayama, many buildings were constructed and many people come to the area. Touyoutei then became one of the most popular restaurants in Kyoto. In 1996, 100 years had passed since Mr. Ginjiro had opened the restaurant. Therefore, he decided to open his second restaurant near Kyoto station in 1997. In 1998, he started serving Tsutsumiyaki hanba-gu (see image below), which has been the most popular dish in the restaurant. In 1999, concerned that the restaurant was a fire hazard, he decided to renovate the restaurant. From 2008 to present, he wanted everyone to know how delicious his meals were, so he opened 7 more restaurants in Kyoto and Osaka. Nowadays, people come to Touyoutei, not only for eating meals, but also for using it as a meeting place. Every location is easy to visit. Furthermore, their aim is to become the number one restaurant serving delicious hanba-gu so that every customer can be satisfied with not only the food but also the atmosphere inside the restaurant.

In Touyotei, there are many good employees because the recruiter for this restaurant chooses the staff carefully. When they choose the employees, they prefer people who like to eat food and talk to people. Moreover, one of the representatives of the company that we spoke with, named Takahashi, said that even if they never held a dish or used a knife, it is fine. More important things are being honest, cheerful, bright, and not being afraid to take on new challenges. Therefore, in Touyotei, every staff member is always doing their best when they work. Moreover, the staff is always thinking of the customer satisfaction first. Mr. Takahashi explained that he wants the employee to grow on a personal level. Touyotei is the place where both the customer and employee can smile and become happy. This is because the behavioral guidelines are to be an employee who is always trying their best. To be this kind employee, they should always reflect on their actions and appreciate everything. Moreover, it is important to identify their strong points and make use of their good points. One more important point about Touyoutei is to make a fashionable and fun space for the customer. Moreover, Touyotei always thinks about the ingreditents of the food, its taste and good service for the customer. Touyoutei’s goal from now on is to have more fans and to create a lively, fun and delicious experience for them.

Tsutsumiyaki hanba-gu

At Touyoutei, the hamburger steak is the most popular dish. It is said that if you come this restaurant, you must order this dish. This hamburger steak is like Salisbury steak. When we order it, the chef grills ground beef and pork. After that, beef stew sauce, hamburger steak, and stewed beef are wrapped in aluminium foil. When the dish is brought to us, the aluminium foil collapses with tasty smell. The moment we open the aluminium foil by ourselves, the smell will hit us strongly. Be careful though! When opening the aluminum foil, some customers risk being splattered with beef stew sauce, so don’t go there with your favorite white clothes. Not only hamburg, but also a side of grilled potato is popular for some customers.

Also, we recommend the whole tomato salad because it is very popular as well. When we entered the restaurant, we saw many boxes of lots of tomatoes. Of course, these tomatoes are used to make tomato salad, and the tomatoes change with each season. This restaurant always uses the most tasty tomatoes, regardless of the area of production. In this way, we can eat tasty tomato salad any time of the year. In fact, this tomoto salad is served as a whole tomato, literally. Normally, we don’t have opportunity of eating a whole tomato, but in this restaurant, we can. This tomato is submerged in hot water for 5 minutes and then placed in cold water. The tomato with peeling skin is arranged on a tuna and onion salad. Finally, on top of it all, a special dressing is placed. This dressing is made by the chef for the tomato, so the name of dressing is ‘dressing for only tomato’. This dressing is said to not fit with vegetables without tomatoes. It tastes a little vinegary and oily. We can buy this dressing in the restaurant for about 610 yen.

picture3 pudding Finally, one more popular item on the menu is a sweet called ‘one hundred puddings’. This pudding was created by the first founder of the restaurant and made with simple ingredients. For this reason, many guests feel nostalgic and like it. When we order ‘one hundred puddings’, the staff brings a cup of pudding and a plate, and then they turn the cup of pudding upside down on th eplate. When we visit this restaurant, we can enjoy this performance.

In conclusion, Hanba-gu is made from minced meat, onions, eggs, milk, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. It is very popular food in Japan. In 1998, Takahashi Ginjiro started serving hamba-gu for the first time in Japan, and it became popular. We want you to try touyoutei hanba-gu when you go to the restaurant.

A True Community Cafe

by Misa Ito and Yuka Shinde

Kyogoku Dining

There is an unusual café/restaurant in Kyoto called Kyogoku Dining. It is often called a “town cafe.” That is because it serves the local community and is a hub for not only the local community but also for the occasional tourist. In addition, it takes on several different roles, that of “pub,” “café,” or “restaurant dining.”

The main concept behind this café is “information.” It strives to be a place where people can access information to help them in the local community. So the staff listen carefully to the voices and opinions of the local residents. Then they try to meet the demands raised by these voices.

Outside of Kyogoku Dining

The owner of the shop said that it was first established after WWII, but there were many times when he was not sure whether to continue the shop or not, to keep it going or to tear it down. So he discussed with local residents. However, they thought they needed to revitalize the local economy and therefore the shop needed drastic reform. So they decided to keep this shop as a “home” for the public. It has a soft image. The residents wanted to make “Dining” a place where people can come and hang out all the time.

The café has several features that make it different from other Kyoto cafés:

• You can use the toilet even if you don’t order food

• You can drink water even if you don’t order food

• There is a free Wi-Fi in this shop

• We can bring food from a shopping centre into the cafe

• You can ask the staff anything if you need help

Who Uses this Cafe?

The primary customers are local residents. When the café is open, people who work outside come in to relax. Europeans and Americans who live in Kyoto also frequent this shop.

Employment of People with Disabilities

This café hires people with physical disabilities. It also gives jobs to people who need them most, such as mothers who need extra money for their families. One reason they like to hire people with disabilities is that such people are often excluded from the labor market.

The Future

The owner wants Kyogoku Dinng to become a community center. He hopes that it will be a place where interchange is multi-generational.

The most famous item on their menu is curry rice. This curry is very spicy. It is profitable because it is 800 yen even with salad. There are other set meals. There is rice, main dish and a side salad. You can choose each one from the showcase. It is also 800 yen. The two are lunch menus. Lunchtime is from 11:00 to 17:00. There are many types of dinner menus. For example, meat dish, fish dish, pasta, pizza and so on.

dinner menu

Staff Voices

We also interviewed a woman who was working at this café. She said that she can learn how to communicate with people who have disabilities. She can also have conversations with local residents and get knowledge about the neighbourhood. Another person said that this work is fun because she loves to work.

Access

The café address is 602-8111 Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Kamigyo-ku, Matsuya-cho (Horikawadori) 28. The business hours are 11:00-22:00 from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is 11:00-18:00.

The telephone number is 075-432-7563. You can get to this cafe by getting on any #9 to #50 city bus from Kyoto Station. It takes about 20 minutes; get off Horikawa-Shimotachiuri bus stop. You can reach this café.

This café is a place that will make a connection with people. Not only people of the local area but also tourists can relax and enjoy a homelike atmosphere. And the staff will tell you a lot local information. We recommend visiting the Kyogoku Dining. Please visit this Website. http://horikawakyogoku.com/

Mamezushi

Junya Kitagawa and Miki Suzuki

Mamezushi

As sushi is now well known all over the world, there are many sushi bars located in many different countries, and a lot of people have become familiar with it. All over Japan you can find sushi bars serving many different kinds. “Mamezushi”, which we would like to introduce here, is one type that originated in Kyoto.

“Mamezushi” is often called “Maiko zushi”, too, because its birthplace was Gion, in Kyoto, an area which is also famous for Maiko, or apprentice Geisha. Maiko have a cute little button for a mouth, with the perfect size and shape for eating sushi. Mamezushi means small sushi bean in English, as the shape is small and spherical.

In top-class Japanese restaurants, 15 kinds of Mamezushi are presented in a box and served to customers. The kinds of mamezushi shown here, are from the upper left, squid sandwiched between sheets of kelp, mackerel oshizushi, bamboo shoot, pickled tuna, masuzushi, pouch of fried bean curd stuffed with vinegared rice, shrimp, butterbur, egg, pickled rape blossoms, kelp boiled in sweetened soy sauce, eel, Japanese ginger, with squid and pickled ginger to the lower right. When the customer first removes the lid to begin to eat, they cannot help but be impressed with the beautiful colors before them, and almost always feel the urge to take pictures of it. However they not only look elegant but also have a very refined taste. Each one tastes different to the others, and we do not have to put on any soy sauce, which makes it a little healthier for us.

Mamezushi

Restaurant Mametora

There is really only one place where we can eat Mamezushi in Kyoto, and this is the top-class restaurant “Mametora”. This restaurant has a calm atmosphere and is peaceful and comfortable. The restaurant is located on Hanami-Koji Street, which is actually quite noisy, however, you do not notice that once inside the restaurant. There are 3 types of seating available here: the counter seat, where you can see the inner garden, a private room, where you can eat lunch or dinner in privacy and relaxation, and on a covered table placed over a recess in the floor of a Japanese-style room. Of course, you can enjoy a special lunch or dinner whichever seating arrangement you choose.

The restaurant has two service times, lunch time and dinner time. Lunch time is from 11:30 a.m. to 02:00 p.m. and dinner time is from 05:00 p.m. to 09:00 p.m. At lunch time two options are available, one is “Mamezushi-Zen”, which consists of five courses.The main course Mamezushi, is served 4^th, and before that courses containing foods in season are offered, with the final course being a dessert. The other option is “Mamezushi-Sara Zen”, which consists of 6 courses, and offers many kinds of foods in small dishes in addition to the courses of “Mamezushi-Zen”. At dinner time there are other options. The first is ”Mamezushi-Kaiseki”, with different courses. With this you can eat Mamezushi, deep-fried food, grilled fish, meat, or chicken, and 4 courses containing foods in season. The second is “Choice Mamezushi-Kaiseki”, which offers 6 courses. In addition to the courses offered in “Mamezushi-Kaiseki” we can eat one-pot type dish cooked at the table. “Mamezushi-Kaiseki” costs ￥3,800 per person, “Mamezushi0-Sara Zen ” costs ￥5,800 per person, “Mamezushi-Kaiseki” costs ￥9,680 per person, and “Choice Mamezushi-Kaiseki” costs ￥13,200 per person. As the dinner courses are so expensive, we recommend you try the lunch courses. They are very reasonable and you can enjoy plenty of Mamezushi. Fundamentally, the restaurant does not close on a regular day, however, on holidays, there will surely be a lot of customers and few empty seats. Therefore, making a reservation before arrival is certainly a good idea. You can actually now make reservations either by telephone or online.

Access

There are a lot of ways to access this restaurant because it is located in the heart of Kyoto city, and near some famous places, for example, Kiyomizu-Temple and Yasaka-Shrine.

・Kyoto City Bus: you can take the “Gion Express” bus from Kyoto Station to Gion Bus Station, and thereafter it is a 3 minutes walk to the restaurant.

・Keihan-train: if you take the train, please get off at Sanjo-Keihan Station, and thereafter take a 5 minute walk to the restaurant.

・Hankyu-train: if you take this train, please get off at Kawaramachi Station, and then take an 8 minute walk to the restaurant.

・phone number:075 532 3955

Additional informationI

In addition to enjoying this great traditional cuisine, please visit the two places of interest mentioned before. Kiyomizu-Temple is very famous, and many travelers wish to visit it. The view from this temple is really beautiful, and will give great memories. Yasaka-Shrine is also famous, and especially for its connection to the “Gion festival”. If you have time, please visit these wonderful places, too.