14 souvenirs you can only buy in Kyoto. From Japanese goods to innovative sweets, take home a variety of Kyoto culture!

*Prices include tax.

The delicate colors and shapes are like Japanese sweets. The seasonal flower candles look beautiful floating on the water.

Nakamura Shoten is a candle and incense specialty store located along Itsutsuji-dori in Nishijin, Kyoto, founded in 1905. Inside the store, housed in a traditional townhouse, you'll find rows of Japanese candles with cute floral patterns hand-painted by Yuzen artisans featuring seasonal flowers, and floating candles with Japanese sweets motifs, all of which will make you feel happy just by looking at them.

A particularly popular souvenir is the "Akari no Hana Meguri" candle, which you can float on water and enjoy the light. The candles are shaped like seasonal flowers from January to December, and when you open the box, you'll find colorful flowers that resemble individually wrapped rakugan (rakugan rice crackers). The sight of the small lit flower candles floating and swaying on the water is soothing. It's also recommended to give them as individual gifts, such as adding the flower language to convey a message or as a gift to coincide with a birthday.

Nakamura Shoten, a long-established incense and candle store

Express your feelings with the soft touch of Japanese paper. Seasonal flower letter paper set

Kyoto Kyukodo is a specialty store located in Teramachi Shopping Street in Kyoto that sells incense, calligraphy supplies, postcards, letter paper, envelopes, and washi paper products. Founded in 1663 as a drug store in front of the Honnoji Temple gates, the store has been protecting and nurturing traditional Japanese culture for over 300 years. It was renovated and reopened in 2020, reborn as a bright and open space.

The "Woodblock Printed Letter Paper Set," a recommended souvenir, is a soothing item with the texture of washi paper and woodblock prints of seasonal flowers. When you pick it up, the soft feel of the washi paper makes you feel nostalgic. Some of the products sold in the store offer a name engraving service, so you can make original letter paper or give it as a gift with the name of a loved one on it. The wrapping paper with a dove motif, the store's symbol, is also lovely.

Kyoto Kyukodo

Easily bring home Kyoto culture! A one-of-a-kind pop eyeglass cleaning cloth

The Kyo-Yuzen brand "SOO-Somaru" was launched in 2016 with the desire to make it easy for people to take home the dyeing culture of Kyoto. Their original product, "Ofuki," is a glasses cloth that is made of 100% silk and has a soft texture and modern pattern that will appeal to anyone.

The same silk fabric as the kimono is used for the base dye, and then a professional Kyoto yuzen dyer hand-dyes the pattern of the glasses cloth over each one. The familiarity of the cloth, which can be picked up without hesitation, conveys the high level of skill and passion that goes into updating tradition into a modern one. The packaging is an original "tatsuo paper" that protects kimonos from moisture. It is not available for sale online, so it is a one-of-a-kind souvenir that you should definitely get your hands on while you're in Kyoto.

SOO - Somal

The classic Kyoto souvenir, Yatsuhashi, is now a Western-style confectionery!

Yatsuhashi is one of Kyoto's most well-known souvenirs. Shogoin Yatsuhashi Sohonten, founded in 1689, has created a variety of sweets using yatsuhashi. In 2011, they opened Nikiniki, a shop specializing in yatsuhashi and cinnamon sweets. The diverse selection of products is exciting, including products where you can wrap your own bean paste or confit inside fresh yatsuhashi, and fresh sweets with seasonal motifs.

One of Nikiniki's popular products, which offers a new way to enjoy yatsuhashi, is "nougatine," which comes in cute, pop-style packaging with a ribbon. Made from thin, baked yatsuhashi slabs topped with almonds and coated in candy, its glossy, beautiful appearance makes it look almost like a Western-style confection! It has a pleasantly crisp texture and a subtle cinnamon scent. Come try this evolved version of yatsuhashi, a treat that has been passed down since the Edo period.

Nikiniki

Chocolate that resembles fresh confectionery, with a crest representing the day you visited

Malebranche is a popular Western confectionery brand that continues to create sweets that focus on ingredients, such as the rich Mont Blanc and the "Okoicha Langue de Chat Cha no Ka" made with carefully selected tea leaves. "Kakao 365 (Cacao Sanrokugo) Gion Store" is their chocolate specialty store.

The product with the same name as the store, "Kakaa 365," is a product inspired by the Kyoto culture of living each day carefully, as expressed in the phrase "Every day is a good day." The surface features an original crest design that represents Kyoto events and seasons. The crest changes every day, allowing you to take home a souvenir of "that day" when you visited.

The chocolate used is the rare Criollo cacao variety from Bolivia in South America. It is finished like a fresh confectionery, with as little heat as possible, so when you put it in your mouth, the thin chocolate around it breaks apart and the creamy ganache melts. The bitter flavor of the cacao fills your mouth.

Malebranche Kakao 365 (Kakao Sanrokugo) Gion store

Become soothed by the thick, creamy kudzu soup that has been loved since the Taisho era

Nijo Wakasaya is located in a quiet area east of Nijo Castle, where shops and houses coexist. It is a Kyoto confectionery shop founded in 1917. Under the slogan "Pasteurizer of Hobby," the shop values "playfulness and leisure" and continues to pass on traditional flavors.

"Furosen" is a popular product that was invented by the first generation and has been around since the Taisho era. It is made by pouring hot water over the powder in a container, and there are three different flavors and box designs that have remained the same since the product was first released. "Flower" with a cherry blossom design is for "Shiruko", "Moon" with a cute rabbit pounding mochi is for "Matcha", and "Snow" with a winter scene of pine trees is for a simple "Kuzuyu".

Add the desired amount of hot water (about 120cc) over 95℃ and stir to create a thick, creamy kudzu soup. The shirukoto matcha contains chidori and arare, which are made from grilled wheat gluten. The gentle sweetness and the cute appearance of them swimming leisurely are soothing.

Nijo Wakasaya Main Store

Yokan x jelly x coffee! A collaboration between a long-established traditional Kyoto confectionery store and a coffee roaster

Shichijo Kanshundo, a Kyoto confectionery shop with its main store near Sanjusangendo (Rengeoin), was founded in 1865. The lineup includes unique products such as vegetable rice crackers, thin egg crackers topped with mitsuba and lotus root, as well as edible matcha bowls made from sweets. While preserving the traditions of confectionery that value seasonality and playfulness, with a focus on water and ingredients, each successive head of the family has incorporated the "modern" trends of the time.

Since 2018, they have been selling "Coffee Jelly Hana Yokan," a collaboration with Tabi no Ne, a coffee roaster in Kitashirakawa, Kyoto. On top is a layer of green mint jelly and dried aged raspberries, underneath which is milk jelly and coffee yokan, and at the very bottom is coffee jelly yokan, making this a masterpiece that shows off delicate craftsmanship. With a bouncy, smooth texture and a refreshing taste with four overlapping layers including the richness of coffee and yokan, this is a new type of Kyoto confectionery.

Shichijo Kanshundo Main Store

Two types of colorful Japanese sweets are packed into a small box made of adorable chiyogami paper.

"Torokugo" is located in front of the Minamiza Theater in Shijo, Kyoto. Located on the bustling Shijo Street, the shop is greeted by the tranquil atmosphere of Gion. Since its establishment in 1946, this traditional Japanese sweets shop has been selling simple-tasting Goshikimame and Amanatto.

The perfect souvenir is the "Goshikimame + Konpeito Chiyogami 2-tiered Box," which consists of two small boxes made from adorable chiyogami paper. The top box contains goshikimame and the bottom box contains konpeito. Goshikimame are green peas coated in multiple layers of sugar. There are five pieces in each color, each with a different flavor: red (plum flesh), yellow (yuzu), brown (cinnamon), green (green seaweed), and white, which allows you to enjoy the sweetness of sugar.

Torokugo, in front of the Minamiza Theatre in Gion, Kyoto

Buttercream sandwiched between two types of cookies in an adorable tin

Sugitora Fruit Shop, which had been in business in Kyoto for over 100 years and closed in 2008, has reopened as a confectionery shop selling gelato and baked goods. The owner and chef is Shinichi Sugita, who represented Japan at the world's leading patisserie competition, Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie 2015, and won a silver medal. The shop has been attracting attention for its Western-style confectionery that incorporates a Kyoto feel, such as gelato made with seasonal ingredients and a cookie tin filled with eight kinds of baked goods.

To commemorate the opening of the Kyoto Tower Sandwich store in 2023, Chef Sugita came up with the "Butter Sandwich Can." The sweet treats, carefully handcrafted by pastry chefs, are packed into a cute can decorated with Kyoto Tower and other designs. When you open the lid, the fragrant aroma of butter hits you. There are two types of sandwiches, with butter cream sandwiched between cookies of different flavors. The most popular is the one with hazelnut cream sandwiched between vanilla and chocolate cookies. When frozen, the cream becomes like ice cream, allowing you to enjoy a different flavor.

SUGiTORA Kyoto Tower Sando Store

Sesame tofu cooked at low temperature for the perfect texture and flavor

Sesame tofu is known as a vegetarian dish. Kyogozan, whose main store is located in front of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, is a specialty store that sells sesame tofu and other products made with kudzu, such as warabi mochi. Sesame tofu in particular is the store's signature product, and is also supplied to famous restaurants and temples in Kyoto.

"Fresh Sesame Tofu" is a product that is only sold at the main store, which has an attached manufacturing factory. Made using two types of sesame and Yoshino hon-kuzu, it has an exquisite smooth texture and the sesame flavor that spreads the moment you put it in your mouth. It is manufactured slowly at low temperatures so as not to spoil the flavor, allowing you to enjoy the particularly rich sesame aroma. If you warm it up a little in the microwave just before eating, it will have an even more gooey texture and the sesame flavor will be enhanced. Try it with a sweet and spicy miso sauce, which was developed to go well with sesame tofu.

Kyogozan Main Store

The classic pickled shibazuke also has the flavor of a long-established shop with a strong ginger flavor.

Akaoya was founded as a sake brewery in 1699, and became a pickle merchant in 1855. It moved to its current location near Sanjusangendo Temple due to the effects of the Great Kyoto Fire caused by the Kinmon Incident at the end of the Edo period. It is a long-established store that has been part of Kyoto's history for over 300 years.

There are over 30 varieties of Kyoto pickles, made with seasonal vegetables that are pickled with great time and effort. Among them, the classic shibazuke is a popular product at Akaoya, known affectionately as "Miyakozuke." Cucumber, myoga, shishito peppers, and ginger are pickled together with finely chopped red shiso grown in the Ohara district in the northeastern part of Kyoto City. The aroma of each ingredient is strong, but the flavor of the ginger is particularly distinctive, giving it a refreshing taste. It goes well with rice, and also with ochazuke.

Akaoya Main Store

A furikake with a rich flavor and addictive spiciness that goes well with rice

Ochanoko Saisai, which has five stores in Kyoto Prefecture, is a specialty store that sells spicy foods using shichimi togarashi. The Sanneizaka main store is located in front of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, which is said to be the birthplace of Kyo shichimi, a type of shichimi that is enjoyed not only for its spiciness but also for its flavor. The store offers a wide range of products, including Kyoto shichimi togarashi, as well as addictive furikake seasonings and sweets.

The most popular item is the "Kyoto Chili Oil Furikake." Roasted sesame seeds are soaked in "Kyoto Chili Oil," which is flavored with Kujo negi and garlic, and then sprinkled on top. The use of sesame makes the spiciness a little milder, so it is popular with people who don't like spicy food and children. In addition to rice balls and white rice, it can also be sprinkled on rice with raw egg, where the spicy flavor adds an accent to the mellow egg. There are also many other ways to enjoy it, such as topping pasta or toast.

Ochanokosaisai Sanneizaka Main Branch

A rice accompaniment created by a popular Italian restaurant that lets you experience the Japanese atmosphere

"Japanese Italian Restaurant Fudo" is a restaurant near Kyoto City Hall that offers Italian cuisine that makes the most of Japanese ingredients. With the concept of "playful cuisine," they create dishes that allow you to feel the local climate. You can enjoy their special flavors at home with their "Shimenomeshi" series, which is a pasta sauce for rice. Usually, it is only available online, but those who have eaten at the restaurant can purchase it as a souvenir.

This "Shimenomeshi" is a product that has been designed to go well with rice as well as pasta. There are six varieties that incorporate Japanese and Western flavors, such as "Scorched Soy Sauce Carbonara" with chunks of bacon, and "Wagyu White Miso Bolognese" with Japanese beef simmered in red wine and aromatic vegetables and white miso added. Put it on hot white rice or rice with raw egg on top to give the usual taste a new and delicious taste. It also goes well with various dishes such as yakisoba and somen noodles. Enjoy the professional taste that incorporates the Japanese climate in your own home!

Fudo, an Italian restaurant in Japan

Beer made with hot spring water and packed with minerals

The hotel "Kyoto Yumoto Hatoya Zuihokaku" in front of Kyoto Station. The hot spring in the hotel is pumped up from a source 910 meters underground. Beer brewed with this natural hot spring, which is rich in minerals, is sold at the liquor shop in the hotel bar.

It's called "Kyoto Onsen Beer". Ten years ago, when the hot spring was discovered at the hotel, it was developed with the idea of using the hot spring water as drinking water. In cooperation with the sake maker Kinshi Masamune's "Kyoto Machiya Beer Brewery", a beer using the hot spring water has been completed. The rich and mellow taste is said to be due to the minerals in the hot spring promoting fermentation. Not only can you soak in the hot spring, but you can also drink the hot spring water as beer, which is sure to soothe your travel fatigue. It is a specialty beer that is only available at this location and is sure to generate a lot of buzz.

Kyoto Hot Springs Hatoya Zuihokaku ANNIE HALL BAR

Choosing souvenirs is one of the joys of traveling. In addition to the many products that have been loved for a long time in Kyoto, new items that reflect the "present" of Kyoto are constantly appearing. Why not bring back home the flavors you encounter at each place you visit, along with memories of your time in Kyoto?

Originally posted: September 21, 2023
*Some content was updated on May 20, 2024.

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