Nishiki Ichiba

Posted on April 23rd, 2011 in Japan | 2 comments

Dateline: March 30th, 2011, Kyoto.

On a recent trip to Kyoto, some friends and I took a morning walk through the legendary Nishiki Ichiba, known locally as “Kyoto’s Kitchen.”  An ichiba is simply a street market with shops selling all manner of groceries and goods for use in the home.  Each shop specializes in a certain item. For example, there are shops selling fish, others selling pickled vegetables, and still others selling fresh vegetables and fruit.  There are shops selling rice crackers, liquor shops, tea shops, tofu shops, and small restaurants serving everything from noodles to sushi.  But what you won’t find is a general grocer or a convenience store. Nishiki Ichiba is about 700 years old.  The photos in this post give a hint of what it’s like, but if you click on this link, you can take a virtual tour of Nishiki Ichiba. Click on the little mascot guy on in the lower right for a full-screen view and then use your mouse to move through the market.

Although they still exist throughout Japan, and big cities like Osaka and Kyoto proudly lay claim to their own famous and very prosperous street markets, the advent of large supermarket chains and a demographic shift for younger families away from city centers and toward the suburbs have turned many smaller ichibas into ghost towns.  A casual observer will notice that most of the customers shopping at ichiba these days are likely to be older, at least in their 60s, as these generally are the folks who (1) still live in the city center; and (2) are free during the ichiba’s business hours. Their shops typically close by around 6 p.m., or whenever they run out of the day’s supply of merchandise.  Fortunately, Nishiki, and its bigger cousin, Osaka’s Kuromon Ichiba, are among a handful of these traditional markets that are still vibrant and thriving after hundreds of years.

At the east end of Nishiki Ichiba, there is a shrine where locals go to pray. This is the fountain where you wash your hands before going into the shrine.

Catch of the Day

Iwashi (sardines) – Some people like them in a can, packed in oil. Others apparently prefer them raw on a bed of bloody ice.

Nothing says “delicious” like baby octopus lolipops. 200 yen ($2.50) a pop.

A 1960s era advertisement for shochu, Japanese distilled spirits.

Piping hot oden, perfect comfort food on a cold day.

Old Timers out for a stroll in Nishiki Ichiba.

Some patrons checking out the senbei shop. Senbei are rice crackers.

Ichigo, strawberries, can be really expensive in Japan. This package of 35 neatly aligned strawberries sells for 3,800 yen – about  $45. If that’s too much for you, just get the two pack above for 630 yen, or about $3.75 per strawberry.

As you cross from one section of the market to another, better keep your eyes out for cross-traffic. Taxi drivers are notoriously aggressive. But isn’t that the case everywhere?

Juxtaposition seems to exist everywhere in Japan.  Here in front of the Nishiki Tenmangu shrine, a young geisha crosses paths with a yanki, which are kind of obnoxious wannabe street punks, who typically wear garish hip-hop outfits and do their best to be a public nuisance, usually succeeding. Incidentally, coming across a geisha out for a stroll like that in the shopping arcade was a stroke of pure luck. It’s always good to have the camera at the ready in Kyoto.