[Kyoto, Japan] Very froggy kaiseki lunch at 懐石カフェ 蛙吉/ Kaiseki Cafe Akichi

[sck]

First, no frog was consumed in this meal.

Second, think of the cafe as a very casual cafe serving a multicourse meal, so you don’t get stuck with the term kaiseki.

Third, the cafe had a lot of frogs, a lot.

One tends to think of Kyoto and kaiseki as really serious, really traditional. Akichi is really anything but that. Its actually really fun for the kids. They enjoyed the meal a lot. Its right next to the Fushimi Inari Keihan station in a quiet little alley. After paying a visit to the shrine and taking the obligatory pictures of the many bright red torii gates, we grabbed a meal at Akichi.

Tofu dressed like morning glory- very savory, with the texture of some pieces like meat. Forgot to take a picture.

Conger eel and summer vegetables, deep fried and marinated in spicy vinegar sauce. The 4 ‘covers’ above the dish represented the floats at Gion Matsuri, the summer festival in Kyoto that just concluded. The vinegar brightened up the dish.

Takoyaki/ octopus cake with a tartar sauce. Yummy.

Goldfish in chawanmushi/ steamed egg custard chilled with a layer of jelly on top.

Grilled young chicken with BBQ sauce with rice and pickled vegetable and turnip on the side. The chicken was very tender and well grilled. The tomato was bursting with juice.

The rice god of Fushimi has blessed the cafe with an abundance of rice so you can get free refills.

Watermelon jelly

Cold drinks were obligatory since it was like 40C out there:

Ginger ale:

Apple juice:

More frogs:

The only place that I didn’t see a frog? Surprisingly, at the little pool under the floor to the left of the front door, there was no frog there, just a koi fish.

Fun and relaxing meal.

懐石カフェ 蛙吉
Kaiseki Cafe Akichi
20-13 Fukakusa Ichinotsubocho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0012, Japan

Fushimi Inari Taisha:

[sck]

And after the meal, a trip to the ever popular Kiyomizu Dera 清水寺. I think half the tourists in Kyoto were in Fushimi, the other half at Kiyomizu Dera.

The hike up to the temple through hordes of tourists:

View from Higashiyama of the street leading up to the temple, and of Kyoto in the background:

Someone please answer our prayers for a cooler summer day in Kyoto. I saw some tourists began their hike uphill from Kiyomizu-Gojō Station. That was, ahem, not wise.

Back then the monks were probably like, screw this weather, we sweating like tofu here, let’s just move up the hill.

I saw plenty of pictures of Kiyomizu Dera beforehand and wondered what was special about it. But the actual temple was actually quite grand.

[digga]

@sck

I saw some tourists began their hike uphill from Kiyomizu-Gojō Station. That was, ahem, not wise

Back in our pre-kid days, B and I did a lot of temple-hopping. We were fit but we’d always huff and puff and wonder “do temples always need to be at the top of the biggest hill in town??”

Enjoying your report! Have a great time (and sending hopes for cooler weather your way).

[sck]

Yes they must lol!

I actually just googled the question and here’s an answer:

And while Tagore offers an answer in the Indian context, it is just as applicable to Christian and Buddhist monasteries throughout the world, many of which are built in places of immense natural beauty and solitude. Such a setting being highly conducive to prayer, contemplation and meditation.

So the next time you trek to a temple or a monastery, remember the effort is not in vain. There is a purpose hidden behind the journey – to turn your mind away from the distractions of the outer world, and focus it on discovering the profound truths of the inner world.

A Japanese told me about the Kasuga Shrine in Nara that its supposed to be hard to get to so you can cleanse yourself and your spirit hiking to the shrine. So the reasoning sounds similar.

And nowadays we tourists ruin all that contemplative and meditative peaceful setting and turn it into a zoo, lol.

With Kiyomizu-dera, we cheated. We took a taxi that took us up the hill all the way to the pedestrian zone before the temple. The good thing is, what goes up must come down. So after Kiyomizu-dera, we get to walk all the way downhill to Yakasa Shrine and Gion.

[kobuta (The Original Passionate Cucumber)]

I love the frog themed kaiseki cafe! I wish I knew about them (or maybe they weren’t there yet…) when I was in Kyoto back in the days. Kyoto is by far my favorite city to visit in Japan. Do they serve the patrons from behind the bar too, or do waitstaff come with the dishes from behind? With all the tchotchkes on the bar, it does give me some anxiety with knocking stuff over if the chef had to hand anything over the bar.

I love the idea of taking doing informal kaiseki meals. While I love art and the presentation, I think having a lighter version (not food, but atmosphere) is great. I enjoyed that recently with a chef in Boston and it was fantastic, and makes me wish that more people take on making kaiseki less formal and more whimsical.

I never used to find walking around Kyoto bad, but that was about 10+ years ago and 15-20 lbs lighter. I might be huffing and puffing when I get the chance to go back too.

[sck]

When we were there that day, it wasn’t very crowded at the restaurants so they sat us not at the counter, but at a table seating area near by. They also had some private rooms with some other parties. They might have upstair seating as well.

@kobuta

I love the idea of taking doing informal kaiseki meals. While I love art and the presentation, I think having a lighter version (not food, but atmosphere) is great. I enjoyed that recently with a chef in Boston and it was fantastic, and makes me wish that more people take on making kaiseki less formal and more whimsical.

Then I think they would run up against traditions and the pushback from purists saying that that’s not kaiseki any more. Even though of course there are many forms of kaisekis. Regardless, with the price that typical kaiseki charge, I think they may even feel that they have to make it quite formal and high end. This kaiseki is 2200 yens, so I think that gives them the flexibility to do pretty much whatever they want.

@kobuta

I never used to find walking around Kyoto bad, but that was about 10+ years ago and 15-20 lbs lighter. I might be huffing and puffing when I get the chance to go back too.

The walking isn’t too bad, but it gets hard when its so hot outside. You just feel you are expending all that energy fighting the heat versus enjoying the city. In the case of walking from the subway station to Kiyomizu Dera, its just doesn’t look that interesting of a walk to justify walking in that kind of heat with limited amount of time.

[TokushimaCook]

I’ve never been in a hotter & more humid place than summer in Kyoto…and that includes living in and vacationing in South & Central Florida in the summer as well. Kyoto is in a valley and it traps in all the heat and humidity. It’s truly stifling and I would always do my utmost to avoid going there that time of year. And winter is extremely cold there as well. Make no doubt about it, Kyoto is certainly an interesting city, but the crowds and the extreme weather make me avoid it in summer and winter.

I personally prefer Nara which is less touristy and less passive-aggressive towards tourists.

[sck]

@TokushimaCook

I personally prefer Nara which is less touristy and less passive-aggressive towards tourists.

Can you tell us more about the Kyoto passive-aggressiveness?

[TokushimaCook]

Kyotoites view their city and themselves as the center of Japan and look down upon other Japanese people and do so even more with the other prefectures that make up the Kansai/Kinki region (Osaka/Hyogo/Nara/Shiga/Wakayama and Mie).

Kyoto was the 2nd capital of Japan (Nara was the 1st). Kyoto has never forgotten that and they secretly believe that it should never have been moved to Tokyo. All over Japan, if one is going to Tokyo, whether you’re moving N/S/E/W, you use the expression “joukyo suru” (上京する) which directly translates to “go up to the capital”. (Kyoto is written 京都 and directly translates as “imperial capital” and Tokyo is written as 東京 which directly translates as “eastern capital”.) When Kyotoites go to Tokyo, they say “Tojo suru” which translates as “go up east”. This is just one of many ways Kyotoites look down upon others.

The BEST example of their passive-aggressiveness is this: If a Kyotoite runs into someone they know on the street and the conversation begins to run long, the person who feels that WON’T say “I’ve got to go/I’m busy” but will instead say “That’s a very nice watch you’ve got there” hoping the other person will look at said watch and notice the time. That’s pretty passive-aggressive, I’d say.

Lastly, Kyotoites have a love-hate relationship with tourists. Tourism is BY FAR the biggest industry in Kyoto (education is likely #2 as many universities are there) and though Kyotoites are fully aware of it, even without overtourism, they constantly complain about tourists…even Japanese ones.

Feel free to ask me for more examples/details about the ways of Kyotoites.

[Google_Gourmet]

@TokushimaCook

Lastly, Kyotoites have a love-hate relationship with tourists.

Our only less than friendly exchange was in Kyoto around 10 years ago, even before the current world wide tourist revolt.

After lifting our grocery bags from our cart at a Kyoto supermarket, didn’t see a cart corral near the elevator. Asked a nearby employee and thought he (gestured) to just leave our empty cart in an open space adjacent.

A clearly distraught local lady had a fit and just about started SCREAMING at us, grabbed the cart and wheeled it to the other end of the store. We don’t understand Japanese, but DID NOT need translation service to figure what she was saying to us. sigh

[TokushimaCook]

That could happen anywhere, I guess.

My personal most memorable run-in with Kyoto’s passive-aggressiveness was about 10 years ago. I was traveling with 2 Japanese friends (we had come together from Tokushima.). We had just left Ginkakuji Temple (the silver pavilion one, not the more famous golden pavilion one) and wanted to go to Arashiyama (where the famed bamboo forest is). I didn’t have a smartphone (I didn’t get one until December 2021) and needed to find the nearest subway or train station.

I had an idea which MIGHT be the closest one, but wasn’t sure, I approached a shop clerk who was hawking things from in front of a shop and said in clear and correct Japanese “Which is the closest rail station?”. She responded in English “There isn’t one.”.

I responded with “First of all, there’s no need to speak to me in English as I have no problems with Japanese. Second of all, it’s not possible that there’s no closest rail station.” She then repeated in English again “There isn’t a closest rail station.”

I saw where this was going and gave her what was my guess as to what the closest station would be by saying “Is Demachiyanagi the closest station?” and she said “Yes, but it isn’t close.”. Sheesh!

We ended up taking 2 trains to get to Arashiyama as it’s not possible to do so on one train because while north/south rail transport in Kyoto isn’t too bad, east/west rail transport is severely lacking and it’s truly faster to walk many places rather than get on a city bus traveling on a crowded street.

[sck]

@TokushimaCook

I saw where this was going and gave her what was my guess as to what the closest station would be by saying “Is Demachiyanagi the closest station?” and she said “Yes, but it isn’t close.”. Sheesh!

@Google_Gourmet

A clearly distraught local lady had a fit and just about started SCREAMING at us, grabbed the cart and wheeled it to the other end of the store. We don’t understand Japanese, but DID NOT need translation service to figure what she was saying to us. sigh

Were you both wearing this t shirt at the time?

[Google_Gourmet]

@sck

Were you both wearing this t shirt at the time?

We’re Giants fans!!

[sck]

@TokushimaCook

The BEST example of their passive-aggressiveness is this: If a Kyotoite runs into someone they know on the street and the conversation begins to run long, the person who feels that WON’T say “I’ve got to go/I’m busy” but will instead say “That’s a very nice watch you’ve got there” hoping the other person will look at said watch and notice the time. That’s pretty passive-aggressive, I’d say.

I have heard this, but thought its general of Japanese not telling you the truth in your face and embarrass you but just wanted you to figure it out. but I didn’t know its specific to Kyoto. Something similar to if you bow too low its an insult etc.

I booked a hotel in Hide-Takayama on this trip. Parking was by reservation only, so I emailed them to reserve. First I was asked about my reservation, which I provided. Then they told me its first come first serve. Which I thought its their way of saying that you don’t have the VIP suite so its first come first serve for you. Then someone emailed me back saying that they can reserve for me and asked me if i wanted it. i said yes then somebody said its first come first serve. and they periodically emailed me telling me repeatedly the same thing afterwards.

At that point i realized that its not passive aggressiveness any more, just the old fashion ineptitude.

[THECHARLES (Charles Yu)]

Talk about frogs! Here’s a frog-related Nippon tale for you foodies!
Years ago, whilst working for a multinational Oil Company, I attended a project meeting with our Japanese engineering contractor’s team in Tokyo, as part of the management team.
One evening, our hosts took us to a traditional and authentic Japanese Kaiseki (?) restaurant for a multi-course dinner. ( I was too green as a foodie to differentiate )
One of the appetizer courses involved the chef, dressed in an all white uniform, killing and dissecting LIVE frogs in front of us! He then proceeded to remove the heart from each reptile, the heart still pounding, placing it on a shiso leaf and other decorative floral items and serving it as ’ SASHIMI '!!
Now! That’s EXTREME BIZARRE CUISINE for you!!

[TokushimaCook]

The reserved parking issue sounds, just like you said, not an example of passive-aggressiveness but ineptitude. In total, I lived in Japan for approximately 20 years and like myself, ANY gaijin (foreigner) can tell you of umpteen examples of incredible ineptitude. Then again, though different, I’ve seen some eye popping examples here in Las Vegas since I’ve returned (and saw volumes of them before I left the states.)

As for “its general of Japanese not telling you the truth in your face and embarrass you but just wanted you to figure it out.” I’m not so sure of how common that is, but it does indeed happen.

My #1 complaint about Japan is this (which was pointed out to me by a Japanese friend):

You might think Japanese people are accepting you, but often it’s just that they’re tolerating you…until one day they don’t and even though they might have never brought up what about you they are just tolerating, they quietly (“silently” might be more a more appropriate word) cut off all contact with you.

I’ve dealt with this since the early ‘80s and though I’ve repeatedly asked Japanese friends not to do so and just tell me their feelings, they do their utmost to avoid conflict and won’t accept my request. One major change is the past few years though is that younger people will just shun you right off the bat or fairly quickly after meeting you. It’s painful, but absolutely nowhere near as painful as losing an important and long time “friend” and never knowing why.

And after having been surrounded by Japanese people for 45 years, I could honestly write a dissertation about this subject. IMHO, it’s a core part of Japanese culture and something which deeply saddens me.

[naf]

Thanks for sharing.

Given the closeness of the society towards foreigners, I wonder how frustrated that can be now the Japanese government tries to promote tourism after the COVID and 2021 Olympic Games and the friction that this can create in the society.

My personal experience around 25 years ago, was in my 20s, and was traveling with a lot of baggages and especially a big cardboard box for some books I have purchased on the trip. I took a train in the suburb of Tokyo at non peak hours to a hotel I have reserved, the platform was not crowded, I have tried my best not to block anybody’s way. I have noticed that there were some random Japanese men aged around 50-60 years kept bumping on my box, that this couldn’t be accidental after numerous repetitions, and only older men.

Not that I was asking assistance but I noticed that the Japanese women were helpful and courteous and offered to help at times at the stairs. No offer of help from local men except a Taiwanese in his 50s married to a Japanese woman and lived there since a decade.

[TokushimaCook]

You’re welcome and thank you for telling me your experience as well. Train manners/etiquette can be a very complex issue/situation in Japan and further complicating matters is that they have a tendency to be different depending on which region of Japan the train is running.

Luggage, especially oversized luggage, has become a big issue in Japan since the collapse of the yen and the subsequent deluge of tourists. The biggest change is that certain trains (especially the various Shinkansen (“bullet trains”) now require paid reservations for use of the specific luggage holding areas located at the ends of the cars. Some tourists try to use them without having paid or reserved them creating havoc for those who have paid & reserved them AND for the already harried conductors who have to referee conflicts and interpret when the parties involved don’t speak the same language.

Before COVID, the biggest problems were as follows:

① Landlords who rented out apartments and condominiums for Airbnb to foreign tourists who didn’t follow rules for the buildings. Coming and going at all times of the night and dumping of trash without following the rules regarding recycling and specific days of the week for disposal (Airbnb type lodging have since basically become illegal in many types of buildings.)

② Foreign tourists who came to Japan on buying sprees and left and incredible amount of trash strewn haphazardly at airports when packing their luggage prior to check-in. Those same tourists would also buy out certain commodities like diapers (Japanese diapers are apparently high quality) creating shortages for Japanese consumers (this forced the establishment of limits on how many packages of certain products could be purchased.)

Well, thanks for reading and sorry for the thread drift.

[sck]

We got some shaved ice to cool ourselves down, we headed down the little street Sannen-zaka. If you can imagine there are no tourists in the picture, Sannen-zaka is actually quite a charming place.

What’s this, lol. At least they got the good sense to blend in with the zen theme.

There are a lot of kimono rental places in Kyoto. I wonder how they clean up all those sweaty kimonos.

Passed by the very historical and oldest yudofu restaurant in Kyoto- Okutan that I originally was thinking about going for lunch. Okutan has been around for a whopping 370 years. To put it in perspective, the United States, where I live, has been around since 1789. This modest yudofu shop, started in 1635, was already 154 year old when the U.S. came about. Alas, one couldn’t fit everything into one trip, so Okutan would have to wait for another time.

Yakasa Pagoda. Surprisingly not too many tourists on that stretch of the road, considering this is the shot that has graced book covers:

But of course, to take such a picture, one would need to get up at 5am when there’s nobody clogging the street, hire a geisha to pretend that she just happens to be walking by. Ah, the power of photography, creating a visual that one would almost never run into.

We eventually made it down to the Yakasa Shrine, where the Gion Matsuri starts and ends every year.

And beyond the gate, modernity awaits:

Well, kind of, since its still Gion, where many goes to get a taste of the old world Kyoto, on some side streets. We were hungry, and ended up on a random place called the Gion Duck Rice.

The high school science lab experiment look-alike was actually our dinner. The food was a bit gimmicky, quite average. The place was full of tourists, had a server that spoke fluent American English (major warning signs right there!!! I think our server said she lived in SoCal.). We were really tired and hungry so we just sat down. In hindsight, we should have probably gone to their better-rated sister restaurant Gion Duck Noodles, or other restaurants in Gion instead. Although many only served known patrons, I was told.

Green pepper, yuzu powder and black pepper:

The chazuke was decent, except the cha was lukewarm…

During dinner, we talked about the rare sightings of geisha in Gion were mostly confined to geishas walking to the next engagement before dinner time. That most tourists never saw one. After dinner, we were on Shijo-dori waiting to cross to the other side. I was looking down, fiddling with my camera while waiting…

…when my wife suddenly started poking me and asked me quietly whether the person waiting right next to me was a geisha. Well, yeah. The geisha was standing right there. I guess Kyoto is a marriage between old and new Japan. Didn’t really occur to me that geisha would be, just like the rest of us, doing modern things like, e.g. waiting for the light to turn green and not jaywalk, or, who knew, maybe going to Lawsons and get a charging cable for her iphone.

Gion:

And that concluded our couple of days in Kyoto.

[TokushimaCook]

That Starbucks was only allowed to open there if they followed Kyoto-specific laws regarding fitting into the traditional architecture of Kyoto and that particular area.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1ab9rsf/this_starbucks_in_kyoto_was_only_allowed_in_this/

Why Kyoto Prohibits Bright Colours