D&Department
Taking over a wooden building on the grounds of the 14th-century Bukko-ji temple, concept store D&Department selects products based on timeless designs and long-lasting quality. Wares range from household goods to fashion and foodstuffs and are sourced from long-standing businesses around Japan’s 47 prefectures, such as nostalgia-inducing enamel coffee kettles from Tochigi, urushi lacquer bowls from Ishikawa and stationery made from washi paper in Toyama. Unsurprisingly, the shop puts a particular emphasis on products from around Kyoto, with highlights including tea from the city’s centuries-old Horaido teashop, urushi-coated drinking straws from local cedar wood, and all-natural dashi powders by Uneno, a kombu and bonito flake specialist established in 1803. The store transformed the temple’s former tearoom next door into a tatami-floored café, where it serves lunch sets that highlight seasonal local produce.
Where to stay in Kyoto
The whip-smart Ace Hotel Kyoto eschews the city’s typically hushed and ryokan-inspired hotel designs in favor of a brazenly bold look drawn up by renowned architect Kengo Kuma and his team. In the double-height lobby, you’ll find young creatives hunched over laptops, sipping brews from Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ first café outside the US. After work, they’ll head upstairs to the copper-trimmed Piopiko restaurant, where Japanese-inflected tacos and tostadas come served under light fixtures by Kamaami-Tsuji. The rooms, spread over the brick-walled former Kyoto Central Telephone Office building and a straight-lined new wing, blend blond woods and washi paper lights with eye-popping 1960s textiles, Eames chairs and turntables with 1980s City Pop vinyls.
Insider intel
“One of my favorite restaurants in Kyoto is Fukuya. Its sabazushi, a local sushi with mackerel, is a must-order” says Takuya Tsutsumi, who uses urushi tree sap to create lacquered products.
“I often visit the Kyoto Museum of Crafts and Design to get my creativity flowing. The collection includes a display of Kyoto’s 74 traditional crafts, from kyo-uchiwa fans to Buddhist household altars called kyo-butsudan.”
“When I want to wind down, I take a long walk along the Kamogawa River. I love going at sunset for the most magical scenes, especially in autumn.”
“The new Mon Wine Bar is one of the best spots to grab a drink. It doubles as a gallery with interesting exhibitions about art and design from around Asia.”
