Ebook updated for 2020! Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide. Over 100 all new must-visit restaurants + revisions throughout. (Print edition is unchanged.)
Machiya, or townhouses, are traditional wooden dwellings in Kyoto that evoke the elegance and culture of Japan's old capital with their architectural details, beautiful gardens, and intimate rooms. Many have been converted into restaurants to create unforgettable dining experiences. Enjoying healthy food in a historic, traditional Kyoto environment is a rare pleasure. Here are some 130 restaurant listings (food, decor, hours, addresses, prices, maps, and index) and a photographic guide to machiya architecture, culture, and aesthetics.
Judith Clancy has lived in Japan since 1970 and is the author of Exploring Kyoto.
Ben Simmons is a Japan-based photographer.
Industry Reviews
"A great collection of affordable restaurants in Kyoto machiya (traditional townhouses).... Judith's descriptions of the restaurants are great, the maps are very useful and her general introduction to machiya would make a good primer for anyone unfamiliar with these charming buildings."-Inside Kyoto blog
"Opens our eyes to the beauty of details.... In these days of digital tablet guides, it's heartwarming to find publishers still dedicated to producing books that have texture and spatial depth, the warmth that only paper, with its shadows and grain, can transmit."-Japan Times
"Judith Clancy has done a great job of making her expertise available to the visitor to Kyoto with this travel guide, in a small edition to fit easily into a bag or backpack."-Vegetable Japan blog
"Planning a trip to Kyoto anytime soon? Then you must acquire a copy of the Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide for some must visit dining. Not a chance of visiting Kyoto in your lifetime? Get it anyway! The first half of this book written by resident of 42 years Judith Clancy provides a fascinating history of Kyoto's traditional townhouse properties now retrofitted to local dining destinations."-Gastro Traveling blog
