The Best Places to Shop in Kyoto
For all the serenity of Kyoto's temples, few visitors to the city can resist shopping. In fact, the spare and elegant design of the temples may inspire a person to reform their ways to be more calm and mindful. Find traditional crafts, modern housewares, chic clothing, whiskey, handmade paper, and more in the shops and boutiques of Kyoto.
〒603-8223, 11-1 紫野東藤ノ森町 北区 京都市 京都府 603-8223, Japan
Papermaker Ko Kado exemplifies Kyoto’s commitment to time-honored traditional crafts with his elegant handmade karakami, decorative paper printed with woodblock patterns. The one-man shop and studio in Kyoto’s Nishijin ward...
5 Chome-2-1 Yamazaki, Shimamoto-chō, Mishima-gun, Ōsaka-fu 618-0001, Japan
When you've overloaded on visiting Shinto and Buddhist temples, head to this sanctuary of spirits, the ultimate pilgrimage for whiskey aficionados. The Yamazaki Distillery, established in 1923, is Japan’s first and oldest...
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
D&Department, a youthful shop housed in a 13th-century Bukkoji temple, focuses on designer housewares, kitchen goods, and foods. Conceived by Kenmei Nagaoka, a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design, and his students, the store...
Japan, 〒600-8079 Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi, Shimogyō-ku, Kajiyachō (Sakaimachidōri), 堺町通松原下る鍛冶屋町242
There’s a lot of tourists Instagram-browsing in Kyoto’s famed Nishiki Market shops, which hawk salt-pickled cherry blossoms, barrels of other pickled vegetables, and takoyaki (fried octopus balls). But step off the...
１７ Shōgoin Entomichō, Sakyō-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 606-8323, Japan
Every visitor ends up at the Kyoto Handicraft Center at some point. It’s one-stop souvenir shopping. Actually somewhat short on genuine handicrafts, the place leans toward the mass-produced, but it’s an excellent selection, spread out...
Japan, 〒604-8054 Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi, Nakagyō-ku, Higashiuoyachō, 富小路通四条上る西大文字町609番地
Nishiki is Kyoto's main food market and it is a delight for foodies. I spent a week in Kyoto and visited every day (sometimes more than once)! Inside the market is a temple, and before refrigeration, the temple was the source of cold water....
Japan, 〒602-8216 京都府Kyōto-shi, Kamigyō-ku, Tatemonzenchō, 京都市上京区 堀川通今出川南入竪門前町４１４
While Kyoto is rooted in tradition, there is so much innovation here too. The Nishijin Textile Center is located in the Nishijin District, which is best known for it's old architecture and weaving factories. It's also much more quiet than other...
