It’s no secret Japan has emerged as one of the hottest destinations globally post-pandemic. This March for instance, saw a record-breaking 3.08 million visitors to the country for the first time – an increase of 69.5 per cent from March 2023, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, much of it thanks to a weak yen currently.
Aside from Tokyo, Kyoto is a major destination for both foreign and domestic tourists – people go there in search of a certain romanticised image of Japan, one that’s steeped in history and culture. They’re not wrong; Kyoto served as Japan’s capital for more than 1,000 years from 794 to 1,868; it’s the guardian to some of the country’s oldest traditions, and houses some 17 Unesco World Cultural Heritage Sites.
Even today, Kyoto remains a small-ish, picturesque city that’s burnished with an abundance of temples and low-lying machiyas (traditional wooden townhouses), creating an aura of an anachronistic Japan for which time has stopped. But Kyoto isn’t just about age-old teahouses, stone gardens and geishas – if you’ve visited the usual tourist spots and are looking to discover a more design-centric side to this ancient capital, here are some of our picks within and around the city
Farmoon is an exquisite space helmed by chef Masayo Funakoshi that’s usually a by-invite-only restaurant serving up dishes inspired by seasonal ingredients and the chef’s own extensive travels. But if you can’t score an invite, you can always drop by during the daytime when things are more casual and the space becomes a tea salon. The chef sees Farmoon as an experimental laboratory, with the second floor also doubling up as an exhibition space. Bonus: it’s also located in a quiet neighbourhood near Kyoto’s famed Ginkakuji (Golden) Temple, so if that’s on your itinerary, make sure to drop by Farmoon for tea after.
Website: Farmoon does not have a website – hit them up on their Instagram account.
Archi Coffee and Wine
Housed within one of Kyoto’s signature machiyas, this stylishly homely joint is emblematic of how these traditional structures are being repurposed as galleries, cafes, hotels and shops. The menu here is small, consisting of sweet pastries such as financiers, cheesecake, eclairs and the like, while savoury options include croque monsieur, alongside excellent drip coffee with various blends. If wine’s more your thing, there are natural wines available on the weekend, when they open till 10pm. It’s the perfect place for some quiet reading if you’ve brought your own book – or if not, there’s a selection of design magazines available for browsing. Enjoy them in the vibe-y tatami-covered space at the back.
Website: Archi Coffee and Wine does not have a website – hit them up on their Instagram account.
Ki:
Reportedly the only Lebanese restaurant in Kyoto, Ki: was started by chef Hirotake Nagano, who’s known formerly for being a French cuisine specialist before opening his own restaurant in the trendy Gojo neighbourhood in 2021. Popular among local chefs and the design crowd, there’s only one long communal table in this cosy outfit – the chef designed it as such as encourage conversations and create a familial atmosphere. In the daytime, you can expect classic Mediterranean dishes such as hummus, falafel, and shawarma, though at night, the menu becomes a course meal that blends Lebanese cuisine with hints of Japanese and French leanings. Reservations are required.
Website: Ki: does not have a website – hit them up on their Instagram account.
Stardust
While Stardust is located in the far north of the city (read: it’s not near any of the typical tourist spots), this shop is well worth making the trek up as it boasts an excellent curation of fashion, jewellery, pottery and homeware pieces, as well as specialist teas, from niche labels like Cosmic Wonder, Black Crane, Cha Yuan and Stephanie Schneider. The vibes across all of them: rustic, one-of-a-kind and earthy-meets-celestial in the best possible sense. If you’re feeling peckish, they also have a cafe at the back (reservations encouraged) which is open during the afternoon and offers a variety of teas and nourishing soups and breads made from organic ingredients.
Address: 41 Shichiku Shimotakedonocho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8412
Website:https://stardust.official.ec/
Kyo Amahare
This is the place to hit up if you’re looking for beautiful tableware – Kyo Amahare is a new space that opened end 2023 in the city centre. It’s located inside a 110-year-old machiya and they stock everything from lamps to cutlery from a variety of Japanese artisans across the country, so whether your tastes run rustic or modernist, there’s likely something you can pick up here. Make sure to head upstairs too to check out their exhibition space where it’s been made to look like an old-school Japanese home.
The TT in this title stands for Taiga Takahashi – a Central Saint Martins graduate whose eponymous menswear label is known for a workwear-influenced aesthetic. The designer tragically passed early a couple of years ago, but his vision is now carried on by his team. His flagship store in the Gion district is a stunning minimalist temple, more akin to a gallery than retail store with its Japanese-style rock garden and sculptures created by the late designer. Even if menswear is not your jam, T.T also has an accompanying tea salon upstairs called Sabi that’s well worth a visit on its own – here you can expect elaborate tea-tasting sessions; a contemporary spin on traditional tea ceremonies if you will. Reservations are required.
Any design lover worth their salt would be familiar with Arts & Science – the Japan-based lifestyle empire founded by stylist Sonya Park is basically the country’s answer to The Row (or rather, it might be the reverse; Park started Arts & Science in 2003 and The Row was established in 2006). With an absolute focus on timeless, mid-century-ish sensibilities applied to categories ranging from apparel to homeware, a trip to any of Arts & Science’s 15 stores across Japan is always a lesson in the values of understated design and well-crafted objects.
This place is an absolute haven and a must-visit for anyone who enjoys pottery, or just design in general. Designed by Kawai Kanjiro (one of the country’s most celebrated ceramic artists) in 1937 as his personal abode, the estate is also his workplace – it includes a kiln at the back of the property. The house has been lovingly preserved as is by the artist’s relatives and the house has now become a museum. Even if you don’t know ceramics well, the house itself is a treat for the eyes, with its unusual but harmonious blend of Japanese aesthetics and Western mid-century influences – not to mention it’s one of the very few original Kyoto residences that’s open to the public.
A perpetual favourite with the local art crowd, the 91-year-old Kyocera is one of Japan’s oldest public museums. A major renovation in 2020 headed by famed architects Jun Aoki and Tezzo Nishizawa, has since given the institution’s classic Imperial Crown Style architecture (Japanese-style roofing on top of Neoclassical buildings) a minimalist update, including a transparent glass ‘ribbon’ feature at the building’s base, as well as the Higashiyama Cube, a new wing for contemporary art.
The museum is currently hosting the king of kawaii art Takashi Murakami’s new blockbuster, titled Takashi Murakami Mononoke Kyoto (pictured here). The exhibition, which is on now till Sep 1, features a staggering 170 works – many of them new or never shown in Japan before and marks Murakami’s first major solo exhibition in Japan in eight years and his first outside Tokyo.
Located an hour’s drive outside of Kyoto (the city makes for a great base to explore places in the Kansai region), the whimsical La Collina is the flagship space for the Taneya Group, one of the biggest sweets company in Japan. Spanning a vast 1.2 million sq ft, the site contains the group’s main shop, candy farm, cafe, bread shop, souvenir shop, and headquarters, and was designed by famed architects Michele De Lucchi and Terunobu Fujimori to be a gathering place where people can get closer to nature. La Collina (which means ‘hill’ in Italian), consists of multiple buildings adorned with flourishing plants and grass, mimicking a hill, and we’d say it seamlessly melds with the surrounding environment. It’s also right on the doorstep of Lake Biwa (the country’s largest lake), so it makes for a great day trip option from Kyoto.
Another museum found on the shores of Lake Biwa is Sagawa Art Museum. Designed by Osaka-based firm Takenaka, the institution is a modern architectural masterpiece known as the ‘floating museum’, thanks to the reed-filled water gardens that surround the main buildings. The museum focuses on works by some of Japan’s most acclaimed artists – the painter Ikuo Hirayama, the sculptor Churyo Sato, and the ceramic artist Raku Kichizaemon – but the space itself too, is also akin to a work of art. The Raku Kichizaemon-Kan hall (pictured here) for instance, was designed in part by the ceramicist and features a dark, underground space with black concrete walls and an underwater skylight, creating a transcendental atmosphere that nods to in’ei (the Japanese principle of using shadows to create a more subdued, nuanced form of light).
