A MUGWORT LOVER’S GUIDE TO KYOTO
I am lucky to live in Kyoto, this incredibly historical, spiritually rich and creative city. There are oodles of touristy places which by and large I avoid. I’m going to slowly update this page with some of my lovely discoveries which will be a bit herby, green, holistic. And if that’s your cup of tea, great. I’d ask that you go to these places in small groups only and don’t be surprised if they’ve changed or are extremely different from my descriptions, things change and there’s a lot of variety in how businesses work here. I get inundated with travel advice requests, so please don’t ask me for advice, just use this page as a starting point for your own adventures and research. If you’re overwhelmed in crowds - get out of the centre! - Kyoto’s small neighbourhoods have many hidden treasures. Enjoy and remember to bow!
kAMOGAWA - THE RIVER
If you come to Kyoto and you only do one thing, walk by the river, you’ll find so much of Kyoto culture there.
The Kamogawa, Kyoto’s river, is a lovely place to cycle, walk, picnic, see cherry blossoms in spring, listen to cicadas in summer, pick a handful of mugwort at almost any time of year except Jan/Feb, meet people out walking their pet dogs, cats, rabbits, see large group dance practices, tai chi etc etc. Because many apartments are poorly sound-insulated, loads of musicians practice their instruments by the river, often taking shelter under the copious bridges - you might find people who have set up entire drum kits for a rehearsal by the river.
This river is a main artery in Kyoto city, it runs neatly from North to South with a fork in which sits the wonderful Shimogamo shrine - a forested shinto shrine which is a place to take a deep breath in the city, see fire flies in the summer, find occasional markets and incredible festivals such as Aoi Matsuri. You can follow it out of town, and if you follow the North Eastern fork it’ll take you up to the foot of Hieizan where a cable car can take you up the mountain.
MUMOKUTEKI
This spacious veggie cafe is in Teramachi shopping street. It has a few shops in the same building - a vintage shop in the basement, a basket shop, a kind of linen/earthy clothes shop and then upstairs there’s this cafe. The washoku set meal is tasty and abundant with a lovely array of flavours, a few different options for the main feature - fried tofu dishes or this steamed veg platter. It’s bloody lovely.
There are lovely herbal teas including a mountain herb tea which contains red shiso for a magical tea infusion which starts purple and then turns yellowish. They also have chai latte and hojicha (roasted green tea) latte served with a golden spoon.
It’s a lovely light room with lots of tables and big windows so that the light pours onto the beautiful veggies as you eat. There are also some quirky bits and bobs around like a vintage English cabinet full of teddy bears. The staff are super friendly and it really feels like the food is made with love.
hObodo
This tiny cafe serves the most delicious Yomogi Ohagi - this is a kind of dessert - the outside is sweet bean paste with mugwort, the inside is a chewy mix of brown and black rice. This cafe are really onto something - what an incredible mouth experience. Mugwort brings a satisfyingly green taste to the table, it’s slightly spicey, earthy, fibrous, and blended with the beans it’s so smooth, you might even mistake it for a white chocolate kind of feeling. They have other Ohagi for sale too so you can get a few on one plate and compare them!
The cafe sells a few organic veggies and has a cosy hippy vibe. The main meals are delicious with good pickles, a healthy spread of tastes. They serve such a fine hot ginger milk (soy milk) that it warms you up so deeply on a day when the snow is blowing down the road that you can manage to cycle home without getting cold.
The music is kind of folky - I knew a lot of the songs - Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan etc. Such friendly staff and good vibes. This cafe is only open Fri/Sat/Sun.