Kyoto [Ichijo Yokai Street]: a taste of loose terror and B-class food.
From JR Kyoto Station, take city bus routes 50 or 101 for about 30 minutes to ‘Kitano Tenmangu-mae’.
Ichijo Yokai Street is a 5-minute walk from there.
It is also about a 5-minute walk from Shiraume-cho Station on the Keifuku Electric Railway.
Ichijo Street was named Yokai Street because it is the pathway of the Hyakki Yayo,
Various events and yokai-inspired gourmet food are on offer.
When you get off in front of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, the place is still full of tourists.
So there are a lot of shops and nice things to see.
Before going to Yokai Street, we made a quick detour.
Castella do Paulo, a Portuguese pastry and café shop.
The Portuguese chef trained at the famous castella shop ‘Shououken’ in Nagasaki,
He opened a sponge cake shop in Portugal.
Later, he opened this shop as a branch in Kyoto.
The confectionery brought from Portugal became ‘Castella’ in Nagasaki,
The Portuguese chef sold them in Portugal, and then brought them back to Japan and Kyoto.
I don’t know how many times this sweet have been back to its hometown in either country.
There is an overwhelming number of women in the shop. That’s not surprising lol.
Upstairs is a restaurant and café. The ground floor is mainly for take-out of sweets.
There are many other sweets besides sponge cakes.
Hmmm, they all look famous! But, of course, you have to buy them!
It would be an authentic sponge cake.
The main attraction of the day was Ichijo Yokai Street, so I took a quick takeaway.
The flavour of the egg yolk is soft and thick. Delicious.
I made a detour and headed towards Ichijo Yokai Street.
On the way, we head further, stopping at the ‘Toyouke Teahouse’.
We pass by the udon shop ‘Tawaraya’.
The ‘Ippon Udon’ here is said to be one of the three major specialities of Kitano. I didn’t know that.
The other two are ‘millet rice cakes’ and ‘Chogoro mochi’.
Ichijo Yokai Street, arrival!
What do you mean? There’s not a single person here.
It’s truly terrifying.
There it is! Spectre.
There are yokai sitting like this on benches all over the place.
Surreal in an empty shopping street.
Spectacular ‘gourd kimono’? They are wearing kimonos only in clothing shops.
I wonder, overall, many of the yokai have a Chinese amusement park-like atmosphere.
Hmm this is a bit scary. Isn’t this street quite scary at night?
The comments of the yokai are a bit of an advertisement for the shops in the shopping arcade.
They are very commercial yokai.
‘Bread Jiji no Yokai Kurokuro Rusk’.
Shops in the shopping arcade sell products related to yokai.
There is also ‘Yokai Ramen’.
Tropical fish shop. Not much of a spectre any more.
A ghost in the upstairs window here! This is a bit scary.
When I was walking around, I found the Hyakki Yako Museum. I have to go there!
This is what it looks like inside. Anyway, the fact that there are no people at all is scary.
I think more people would come if you made it into a haunted house or something.
Why not have the haunted house producer Hirofumi Gomi produce it?
It’s a waste of a place with a perfect history and history.
‘Yamada Fry: Kyoto-grown croquettes.’ Established 55 years ago.
The appearance is austere.
Well, there is a wide variety anyway. Perfect for buying and eating.
They are fried on the spot when ordered.
Of course, there are also ‘yokai croquettes’ lol.
Freshly made! Crunchy. Hot and fluffy.
Take away like this. Beef croquettes for 90 yen.
Yokai street is run by the Oshogun Shopping Street.
So, the last stop is to the Ooshogun Hachi-jinja Shrine.
Of the four Daishogun shrines that protect Kyoto, this is the Daishogun Shrine that protects the west.
This crest is unique!
That’s it for today.
Daishogun shopping street
Ichijo Yokai Street
