“Kyoto’s Kitchen”.

The Nishiki Market is a narrow, five block shopping street lined by just over one hundred shops and small behind-the-food-stalls-restaurants. The market specializes in all things food related such as fresh seafood, cookware, Japanese sweets, pickles, dried food, sushi and seasonal specialties. The culinary delights are various and (almost) everything sold here is locally produced and procured.

There are also a few small restaurants and food stands selling ready-made food. And a few are sit-down restaurants, though you have to look hard for them, because most is behind the small food stalls. They usually specialize in one type of food, and are often attached to a store of the same specialty.

The market has a history of several centuries, and many stores have been operated by the same families for generations. It all started as a fish wholesale district, with the first shop opening back in 1310. Today it a buzzling market with variety that attracts both locals and tourists. I can’t believe we weren’t by last time we were here, but we really made up for it this time, visiting several time even more than ones some days…

We got food here, knifes, ceramics and lots and lots of great food. If in Kyoto, this is a must-visit.