Shopping in Asty Square and Asty Road

On the south side of the station building are the Asty Square and Asty Road shopping malls.

Asty Square occupies a space close by the Kintetsu Kyoto Station and both inside and outside the Shinkansen Central ticket gates. This is a good location to buy a lunch box if you are about to embark on a long journey, or shop for last minute souvenirs before catching your train.

Asty Road is a shopping arcade on the southern flank of the Kyoto Station building. There is a good selection of restaurants and cafes here which you can read about in our article: Dining in Asty. There is also a great selection of well-known Kyoto stores selling unique local products.

Opening times vary but the bulk of the stores are open between 9:00 and 21:00.

Here are our recommended shopping highlights for these two malls.

Asty Square

There are three kinds of product to look out for in Asty Square: confectionery, souvenirs and bento lunch boxes. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Cakes & Confectionery

For those with a sweet tooth there are three shops selling confectionery outside the shinkansen ticket gates: Godiva, Beard Papa and Sweets Box. Godiva is a world famous brand of luxury chocolates and Beard Papa sells a range of freshly baked cream puffs. For something with a little local flavor though, we recommend Sweets Box.

Sweets Box

This shop specializes in cakes and confections flavored with matcha or powdered green tea from the tea fields of nearby Uji. The matcha choux cream, matcha roll cake and matcha cheese cake are all popular items.

 Open: 10:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-691-7020

Souvenirs

There is a small shop outside the ticket gates called “Gift Kiosk Kyoto Nishi” that sells souvenirs and Kyoto related knick-knacks. However, the main souvenir shops are inside the ticket gates.

Kyo-no-Miyage

Kyo-no-Miyage sells ready wrapped souvenir gifts such as traditional Kyoto sweets, pickles, and handicrafts, as well as local brands of sake, shochu, and craft beer. Look out for the Ajari-mochi rice cakes filled with sweet adzuki beans. 5 cakes will cost you just 550 yen.

 Open: 7:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-661-8305

Kyoto Shinise-no-Aji – Maiko

This shop stocks a wide range of gift wrapped luxury groceries and local specialty confections ranging from baked adzuki bean sweets, to boxes of seasoned beef! Look out for the Chogoro-mochi; soft white rice cakes handmade according to a 400 year old recipe!

 Open: 7:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-693-5560

Koto Miyabi

Yet more traditional Kyoto sweets and pickles are on sale here. Probably most popular are the yatsuhashi, Kyoto’s most famous traditional confection. These are baked strips of rice flour and cinnamon wrapped around sweet bean paste. A variety of flavors and colors are available. Kyoto Miyabi also stocks products by the local cosmetics company Yojiya.

 Open: 7:00 – 21:15
 Tel: 075-693-3652

Takeout Meals and Bento Shops

For those looking for simple takeout food you can get sandwiches at the Donq bakery, or Chinese steamed pork dumplings at the 551 Horai shop. Both of these shops are outside the shinkansen ticket gates.

If you want a genuine Japanese takeout experience though, a bento lunch box is recommended.

Bento lunch boxes are commonly sold in shops and convenience stores as handy pre-packed take-away meals. Typically they include rice, fish and/or meat, pickles, and other vegetables. “Ekiben” or “station bentos” are sold in train stations for people embarking on long train journeys. They differ slightly from the average bento lunch box in that they are seen as a way to advertise local cuisine – and so the contents do tend to be of a higher grade. For many Japanese, enjoying an “ekiben” lunch box on board a train is an integral part of the journey. In Asty Square, you can find some bento lunch boxes in the souvenir shops mentioned above, but there are three shops that specialize in ekiben: Obento Shunsai, Kyo Obento and the bento stand in Koto Miyabi.

Obento

This store is outside the ticket gates. Among their box lunches are the “Kyo-no-obanzai” priced at 1030 yen. This is packed with the colorful “obanzai” seasonal side dishes that are typical of Kyoto home cooking. Also recommended is the beautifully presented “Gion” box lunch which contains a sophisticated selection of Kyoto cuisine and sells for 1540 yen.

 Open: 6:30 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-691-6822

Kyo Shinise-no-Aji – Kyo Obento

This is a bento stand inside the ticket gates, and just in front of the escalators. They sell all kinds of freshly made bentos. A popular item is the “chirimen sansho gohan” which is dried whitebait and sansho pepper on rice. This costs 930 yen.

 Open: 7:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-693-5560

Koto Miyabi – Oishii Obento

One corner of the Koto Miyabi souvenir shop is given over to bento boxes. Among the many boxed lunches they have on display, the “barazushi” is very popular. Barazushi is a special kind of sushi in which a variety of contents are sprinkled over the rice. In this case minced mackerel, vegetables, shredded egg crepes, and pickles all present an exquisite and colorful feast for the eyes as well as for the palate. One box will cost you 918 yen, or if you are really hungry you can get a larger portion for 1296 yen. For meat lovers there is also a “gyuzen” boxed lunch of sukiyaki style beef on rice that has various vegetables mixed in. This is priced at 1000 yen.

 Open: 7:00 – 21:15
 Tel: 075-693-3652

Asty Road

In the Asty Road shopping arcade you can find some shops selling general goods such as clothing, pharmaceuticals, food and other groceries. However, its main point of interest is that it has a concentration of some of Kyoto’s most famous businesses selling unique local goods. These make for excellent souvenirs, so let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer.

General Goods

Uniqlo

This Japanese clothing design and retail company is known around the world for its stylish but reasonably priced casual wear. The store stocks both menswear and ladieswear.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-693-5085

Matsumoto Kiyoshi

Matsumoto Kiyoshi is Japan’s best known drugstore chain and sells all kinds of medicinal and cosmetic products. This is good to know if you suddenly realize you have forgotten some tiny essentials just before a journey.

 Open: 9:00 – 22:00
 Tel: 075-662-1021

Sizuya Bakery

Sizuya Bakery is a good spot to grab a sandwich to go. Alternatively, their anpan, sweet rolls commonly filled with bean paste, are popular souvenir gifts. A box of “Kyoto Taiko Anpan” has five drum-shaped rolls with different fillings and sells for 1150 yen.

 Weekdays: 7:00 – 22:00
 Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Holidays: 7:00 – 23:00
 Tel: 075-692-2452

Kyoto Goods

Yojiya

Yojiya is an old Kyoto cosmetics company, established in 1904, that is most famous for their aburatori-gami, or oil blotting paper. The paper is used to remove excess oil or perspiration from the face, and so makes the application of make-up much easier. Other popular skincare products are hand cream, lip cream, and sunscreen. This is a good spot to stock up on unique cosmetic products whether for yourself or as gifts.

 Open: 9:00 – 20:00
 Tel: 075-662-1211

Gion Tsujiri

The original Tsujiri is a popular tea shop in the Gion area of Kyoto that specializes in matcha, or powdered green tea from the nearby tea fields of Uji. In the Gion Tsujiri shop on Asty Road, you can buy tea, and tea flavored sweets as souvenirs, or buy yourself a green tea flavored ice cream to go. A small seating area is also available it you would like to have some tea in the store.

 Open: 8:30 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-681-0001

Matcha House Fukujuen

Fukujuen is another matcha tea shop with a long history, having established their first shop in 1790. Here you can buy tea as souvenirs and there is a small seating area where you can have fresh tea and sweets. Takeout tea is also available.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00 (Last orders: 20:30)
 Tel: 075-644-5802

Nikiniki

Nikiniki is a new shop opened by Shogoin, an old Kyoto business that specializes in yatsuhashi, triangular rice flour pastries flavored with cinnamon and filled with sweet bean paste. Starting with yatsuhashi as their main product, Nikiniki has a wide range of original sweets with adventurous flavors. Look out for their cinnamon sticks, nougat flavored with coffee or cinnamon and caramel, and manju rice cake selections flavored with cinnamon, lemon, walnut, brown sugar, and vanilla.

 Open: 9:00 – 20:00
 Tel: 075-662-8284

Kyo-Meika – Ohara

Ohara is a gift shop mainly stocking Kyoto confectionery. Look out for their matcha flavored sweet potato cake. A small one sells for 679 yen, and a large one for 1080 yen.

 Open: 7:30 – 20:30
 Tel: 075-661-8301

Tsuruya Yoshinobu – Irodori

Turuya Yoshinobu is Kyoto’s most esteemed confectionery shop with a history of over 200 years. Their sweets have been favored by the Imperial Household and are served in tea ceremonies of the head tea masters of Kyoto. “Irodori” means “colorful” and with this shop at Kyoto Station, this long established company hopes to introduce to the uninitiated, some of the color, art and culture of their most celebrated Kyoto confectionery.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-574-7627

Yubasho

Yuba, or tofu skin, is a by-product of the tofu making process, which is considered a delicacy in Kyoto cuisine. Whether served as part of Zen Buddhist cuisine, or part of a high grade kaiseki course meal, yuba is an integral part of any real Kyoto meal. Yubasho, is a yuba specialty store founded in Kyoto in 1885 that stocks every possible variety of this wholesome and versatile ingredient. You can fry it as tempura, add it to a nabe style hot pot, serve it on a bed of rice or simply dip it in soy sauce and eat it like sashimi. Three pieces of fresh nama-yuba will cost you 540 yen. A 200 gram pack of creamy kumiage-yuba will set you back 756 yen.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-691-3136

Eirakuya

This 400 year-old company specializes in colorful print designs on cotton products such as handkerchiefs, hand towels, bags and furoshiki – traditional wrapping cloths used to carry objects large and small.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-661-2300

Karancolon

Karancolon sells a huge variety of brightly colored cloth bags, purses, pencil cases and towels. The store prides itself on being both very Japanese in style, but also thoroughly modern.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-691-6356

Shoyeido Kunkun

Kodo, the art of appreciating incense is one of Japan’s three classical arts, along with flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony. Shoyeido is a 300 year-old quality incense business dedicated to this art. At their Shoyeido Kunkun store you can find incense that can be used to help you relax, to refresh your mood, or to create a welcoming mood for a guest. And perhaps nothing can bring back the memories of your trip better, than the elegant scents of Kyoto. Many varieties are available but the Kunkun Series packs are a good introduction. Each pack contains 8 sticks and is priced according to scent. Pine is 378 yen, lavender is 486 yen and sandalwood is 756 yen.

 Open: 9:00 – 21:00
 Tel: 075-693-5590

Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved.