KYOTO - Kyoto's Shin-Kyogoku Shopping Street, a bustling 500-meter arcade with more than 150 years of history, is home to some of the city's oldest restaurants, seven Buddhist temples and a Shinto shrine, while a recently rediscovered 90-year-old restaurant manual has revealed unusual dishes and the philosophy of a pioneering Western-style restaurant.
Stretching north from Shijo Street to Sanjo Street in central Kyoto, Shin-Kyogoku is one of the city's best-known shopping destinations, attracting both local residents and tourists. Yet behind its modern storefronts lies a history closely connected to Kyoto's transformation during the early Meiji period.
One of the street's most unusual features is the presence of seven temples and one shrine nestled among the shops. Their entrances stand alongside retail businesses, creating a distinctive streetscape where religious institutions and commercial establishments share the same narrow thoroughfare.
The arrangement reflects the area's origins as temple grounds. Before the Meiji era, much of what is now Shin-Kyogoku formed part of the precincts of Buddhist temples, some with histories stretching back more than 1,000 years.
The shopping street emerged following major political and social changes in the early Meiji period. After the emperor relocated to Tokyo in 1869, Kyoto experienced a significant decline in population and economic activity, leaving parts of the former capital struggling to recover.
A government ordinance issued in 1871 reorganizing land held by temples and shrines provided an opportunity to redevelop the area. A new commercial street was established through former temple grounds as part of efforts to restore economic vitality to central Kyoto.
The name Shin-Kyogoku, meaning "New Kyogoku," was derived from the neighboring Teramachi Street, historically associated with the eastern edge of the old capital. The new thoroughfare was intended to create a lively commercial district that would help revive the city's economy.
Among its longest-established businesses is Sarashina Honten, a restaurant founded 152 years ago that specializes in kishimen, the flat wheat noodles more commonly associated with Nagoya.
Now operated by the sixth generation of the founding family, Sarashina traces its distinctive menu to its first proprietor, who came from Aichi Prefecture and introduced kishimen to Kyoto at a time when the dish was relatively unfamiliar to local diners.
Although the restaurant is one of Shin-Kyogoku's oldest surviving businesses, its operators say that 150 years is still considered relatively young in Kyoto, where some merchants have operated for 300 or 400 years and temples can trace their histories back 600 to 800 years or longer.
Sarashina's signature kishimen has evolved considerably from its Nagoya origins. The restaurant developed an exceptionally thin version of the noodles, measuring less than one millimeter in thickness, to complement Kyoto's delicate broth.
Achieving that texture required changes to the flour mixture because noodles rolled so thinly are particularly prone to breaking. The restaurant also refined its individual dishes to suit local tastes, gradually establishing a distinctive Kyoto-style kishimen.
The noodles are served with ingredients including bonito flakes and fried tofu, which absorbs the broth. The thinner noodles have a greater surface area relative to their thickness, allowing the soup to coat them particularly well.
The restaurant's continued success followed years of experimentation. When kishimen was first introduced, Kyoto residents showed little interest in a noodle dish associated with another region, making it difficult to attract customers.
Rather than abandon the specialty, successive generations adapted the recipe until it became an established part of the local dining scene.
Another landmark of Shin-Kyogoku is Star Shokudo, a Western-style restaurant that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2025 and has grown into a business operating 17 locations, mainly in Kyoto.
Founded by Kotaro, who had traveled to the United States before returning to Japan, the restaurant was established with the ambition of making Western cuisine accessible to ordinary Japanese diners.
At the time, Western-style meals were still unfamiliar to many people in Kyoto. Even knives and forks were a novelty for some customers, and the restaurant's early mission was to introduce new dining customs as well as new dishes.
Its founder displayed a message promoting the popularization of Western cuisine, reflecting his belief that access to such food was part of Japan's broader modernization and rising prosperity.
Over the following century, Star Shokudo became a familiar destination for Kyoto residents seeking Western-style dishes for family outings and special occasions.
Its most popular dish today is an omurice gratin with cheese and demi-glace sauce, combining the Japanese interpretation of a Western omelet with baked gratin.
The dish is designed to remain relatively light despite its rich appearance, with the seasoning of the rice, cheese and sauce carefully balanced to avoid overwhelming flavors.
However, one of the restaurant's most remarkable discoveries came during preparations for its centennial celebrations, when staff researching the company's history uncovered a service manual dating to 1935, just 10 years after the business was founded.
The document, preserved for approximately 90 years, provides an unusually detailed account of how restaurant employees were expected to conduct themselves during the early Showa period.
Because the original is fragile, the restaurant has scanned its pages and produced printed copies for examination.
The manual contains practical instructions covering customer service, personal appearance, language and professional conduct. Employees were told to speak standard Japanese rather than regional dialects and to greet customers properly when they entered the restaurant.
It also contains a system of abbreviated names for menu items, providing a glimpse into dishes served at the restaurant during its early years.
Among the more surprising entries is rabbit cutlet, abbreviated as "Usa-Ka," indicating that rabbit meat once appeared on the restaurant's menu.
Other entries include seasonal ingredients such as matsutake mushrooms, suggesting that the restaurant incorporated both Western culinary influences and traditional Japanese seasonal foods.
Perhaps the most puzzling discovery was a menu item described as "newspaper breakfast," alongside references to newspaper-related meals.
The exact meaning remains uncertain, but restaurant staff suggested that customers may once have been able to order breakfast accompanied by access to a newspaper.
At a time when newspapers were relatively expensive and not necessarily available in every household, the opportunity to read one while eating could have been an attraction in itself.
The theory remains speculative, however, and the original purpose of the unusual menu item has not been established.
Beyond its descriptions of food and service, the manual contains a series of philosophical statements expressing the founder's views on work, personal development and the meaning of life.
One passage declares, "To live is not merely to breathe, but to accomplish something."
Another states, "Those who have never eaten bread with tears cannot understand the taste of life."
The sayings suggest that the founder viewed restaurant employment as more than simply a means of earning a living. Staff were encouraged to develop their character, take responsibility for their futures and pursue ambitions beyond their immediate duties.
The manual also promoted the idea that employees should think of themselves as future leaders rather than permanent subordinates, encouraging them to acquire the knowledge and confidence necessary to become independent.
The rediscovered document has impressed current restaurant executives, who say its advice remains relevant despite the enormous changes in Japan's restaurant industry over the past nine decades.
What began as a collection of workplace instructions has come to be regarded as a broader guide to personal and professional life, emphasizing courtesy, determination, responsibility and individual achievement.
The discovery illustrates how Shin-Kyogoku's long-established businesses have preserved not only recipes and commercial traditions but also the ideals of the entrepreneurs who helped shape modern Kyoto.
More than 150 years after the street was created to revive the former capital, its restaurants, temples and family-run businesses continue to reflect the city's ability to adapt while retaining its historical character.
Source: KTV NEWS
