My favourite Kyoto shops: Kyukyodo Honten for quality paper and incense

Since I am becoming pretty much a Kansai blog here, and I am unsure how long this phase will last, let me introduce you to some of my favourite Kyoto places. You will find hotels, restaurants (well, dessert shops, mostly) and now I think I shall introduce you to some of my favourite Kyoto shops, too, starting with Kyukyodo Honten. With it comes some honest, unbiased advice that isn’t some AI-generated slop or video of Don-don-Donki Don Quijote. I have many favourite shops, and I am starting with Kyukyodo because I have loved them for a long time, having first visited their Tokyo Ginza shop in 2005.

My friend Yoko introduced me to the Kyukyodo brand. On one of my first trips to Japan way, way back in the early 2000’s, I wanted to buy washi paper for origami. She was working in the Ginza area at the time, and when I made a beeline for Ito-ya, she asked whether I knew Kyukyodo. And took me to a smaller but extremely tasteful sho filled with sheaves of colourful washi paper, notebooks, accessories and, of course, the prerequisite origami paper. I bought so much, I am still using it today, and nothing has faded or become brittle. Fast forward two decades, I found myself in Kyoto – not really wishing to spend much time in Kyoto, but taking advantage of the plethora of accommodation at the time. But guess what… I fell in love with Kyoto, and I passed Kyukyodo Honten on my search for a samue suit in a nearby shop. I saw the Kyukyodo label, two birds on a flowery scroll, and suddenly some strong forces pulled me in…

History of Kyukyodo Honten

Kyukyodo Honten, despite today’s modern appearance, was founded as a pharmacy in Teramachi-dori in Kyoto, pretty much on the site it occupies today. Its crest, two doves on a flower garland, goes back to the 12th Century, when a member of the Kumagai Family was awarded the crest for military achievements. Twenty generations after this, in 1663, a member of the Kumagai family opened a pharmacy in Teramachi-dori, producing and selling incense, medicines and soon, calligraphy materials for the nearby temples.

Teramachi-dori literally means Temple Street, and if you look carefully, and enter a side lane here and there, you will find lots of small, lovely temples – in a line leading to the Imperial Palace. Such pharmacies were not just to supply medicines to the temples and the surrounding settlements, but also incense, Buddhist goods and paper goods. And this is basically Kyukyodo’s core business.

They were an official supplier to the Japanese Imperial Household from the late Meiji era to 1945, similar to a Royal Warrant in England. 

How to get to Kyukyodo

 At some point you will find yourself in the bustling Downtown District, so instead of hitting the drug stores and Donki, which are all nearby, get yourself some nice Japanese paper and incense. Kawaramachi, the famous Shopping Street, is very close by, too.

Kyukyodo has two modern shops in the popular Teramachi Shotengai you see on the picture.

One location has mostly pricier items, temple incense and accessories, so I am going to concentrate on the larger store. You can easily walk there from Kyoto City Hall (Kyoto Shiakusho-mae) which is a stop on the Kyoto Metro as well as a major bus hub, and also from Sanjo Station.

ONce you have entered Teramachi Shotengai, look out for two low rise modern -traditional shop buildings opposite each other, with large glass windows and distinctive lighting.  

Shopping at Kyukyodo

I usually wind up at Kyukyodo at some point, because I often stay near there, and I do use a fair few note books – and I simply cannot resist the lovely paper good, large sheets of washi paper, and I do burn a lot of incense.

Paper, paper, paper

Enter and find a tidy shop which is never that busy, with small paper goods and cards in front of you.

Right away, you will find a rack of note cards and envelopes in really cute designs. It seems like letter and card writing is still very much alive in Japan.

Just seeing all the stationary makes me want to write letters and cards again… all those who are letter writers, this shop is a treasure trove.

When I travel, I usually send postcards, the old school way, and I love receiving postcards. You may have noticed that postcards are not easy to buy in Japan – I don’t think the sending of postcards is that common in East Asia – people bring omiyage instead- But for those postcard writers like me, there is a fine selection of very arty note cards, and some postcards, too.

They have all paper products you could possibly imagine – and they will print business card, personalised note paper, name stamps… you name it. They will make a calligraphy brush from your baby’s hair when they receive their first hair cut. Yes, very traditional and personalised indeed.

I was not going for anything personalized because my Japanese is not good enough to order what I want, and also, my name is very plain Katakana – no elaborate kanji for me! I was drawn to these little cards here, it says “Lucky Note” and I think they are simply mini greeting cards!

Last not least, you will find some very fine washi paper here. At around 230 JPY for a large (A3) sheet, it is incredible value. They also sell origami paper in various sizes here, as well as notebooks and small accessories like pencil tins, all decorated with the washi. I have small Kyukyodo note book sfrom 20 years ago, that still look like new, no faded colours, no broken spine, this paper really is quality.

Calligraphy

Then, moving to the right, you will find the Japanese calligraphy supplies. Calligraphy, or Shodo (書道) is a practice that was first practiced by court officials in the Heian period, but is often associated with Zen Buddhist schools as well.

Kyukyodo is a convenient one-stop shop for high quality brushes, paper and ink. While paper and brushes start at very reasonable prices for beginners or those unsure whether they want to take up the traditional  hobby, ink stones and ink sticks are expensive. But worry not – you can always buy a calligraphy brush pen first or liquid ink. 

They even used to run calligraphy courses here at the store, but sadly, there are none at the moment. But f you have admired the elegant calligraphy in your goshuin book, it might be worth getting a few basic supplies and trying Japanese calligraphy?

Incense and other fragrant goods

Kyukyodo has an overwhelming array of Japanese incense for the house and for religious use. From interior lines to classic agarwood incense, you can buy every kind of incense here. What’s really nice is that, like in many incense outlets, a display box is usually open for you to smell the incense to get an idea of the scents, but they will also offer to burn a piece so you know what it smells like when lit.

They do have a lot of “Western” incense, in notes like lavender (the one with the stylized blue pine), cherry blossom (with the red blossom) or Rose (with the blue shibori-like pattern). It’s basically a nice room fragrance, and a nice reasonably-priced souvenir.

On the photo above is their daily “Western style” incense , a box of which can be had starting at 900JPY. Kyukyodo uses both natural and synthetic fragrance for their incense sticks. The packages of green sticks below contain their more “premium” incense blends, which are sold as longer sticks in smaller quantities.

A recommendation, especially if you are new to incense, is trying Kyukyodo’s “Modern Classic” line, which is available in two sizes. I like these smaller packages of shorter incense sticks, perfect for trying out ne scents, at very attractive prices. I bought one of their classics called “Azusa”, a lovely Sandalwood and JASmine blend, and since I am normally not into flowery notes much, buying a smaller box is perfect for trying it out.

As you see, I haven’t fully discovered the world of Kyukyodo incense yet, and I am still in the stages of trying out different types and fragrances, and then, of course, I cannot resist and often buy incense as a souvenir from temples or visit smaller traditional incense shops.

All I can say is they are superior to what I can buy in shops here. I started cheaply with daily incense from drugstores, and I am still fond of the cheap Baieido “Kobunboko” plum blossom classic, and my favourite of all-time s a cheap green tea incense I bought in Sakai, but if you are interested in incense, then you won’t leave Kyukyodo empty-handed. Having said that, I am still a fan of Sakai-based Baieido.

Need to Know

The shop, though extremely professional and polite, doesn’t make special concessions to tourists, and most customers were Japanese every time I visited there.

They are extremely welcoming to everyone, but staff may not speak a lot of English. Their web site is staunchly in Japanese only, too.

Also, there is no tax-free shopping available. To be honest, I don’t mind. Prices are more than reasonable for what is very high quality goods.

Once you made your selection, you can leave them at the central cashiers desk, where they get beautifully wrapped in the store’s signature teal blue wrapping paper. If you want to give items as a gift, each item will be beautifully and individually wrapped at no extra charge.

What is nearby?

Kyukyodo started out as a pharmacy during the Edo period in 1663 pretty much on today’s site, next to Honno-ji temple. nd although Teramachi-dori is now known mostly for its tourist-friendly shops, you will still find many temples in this area, well hidden behind shop fronts and restaurants.

Starting with the trio of temples of Honno-hi, Esho-in and Hongyo-in right behind the shop – just walk through the nearby dark wooden gate, the Somon, into the quiet lane a few metres north of the shop to find these temples, which are associated with painters and calligraphers. You will also find the mausoleum of warlord Oda Nobunaga here. Oda is known as the first of the unifiers” of Japan and committed ritual suicide at this site during a rebellion in the so-called Honno-ji incident.

After an excursion into Japan’s darker history, you can zoom back into late Showa era and have a drink at Smart Coffee, a superbly stylish kissaten. There is almost always a queue, it’s so popular. I haven’t been ( I seldom queue, and there is a Komeda’s Coffee nearby) but I heard it’s really famous.

A little further south down Teramachi is the very picturesque Yata-dera, lit by many lanterns,  almost swallowed up by the shops. You can walk all the way down to Shijo-dori and see how Teramachi-dori becomes more and more touristy and crowded, but duck into the little side lanes to find more quiet temples completely unbothered by the shopping crowds.

Other notable places in the less crowded northern bit of Teramachi is the lovely Musubi Kyoto Shop. Perfect if you are looking for a reasonably priced yukata or samue or jinbei in a large array of sizes.

This area, though fairly touristy in parts, is one of my favourite shopping areas – a mix of tourist-friendly shops, traditional old shops like the excellent Misuyabari Sewing Needle, and some excellent dessert shops a short walk away, and last not least a huge Maruzen Books, Loft and Uniqlo nearly.

Where to stay

I have stayed in the Downtown area of Kyoto several times and recommend it. Excellent connections in all directions, still relatively quiet, and great hotels at all price points.

My first recommendation is Prince Smart Inn Kyoto Sanjo, one in the street parallel to Teramachi-dori. . A large modern hotel, aimed at both tourists and business travellers. Super comfortable decent sized rooms in modern design, big showers, a table, a fridge in the room, communal washing machines and a cafe/coworking area on the ground floor. I paid around 55 Euro per room per night during gion Matsuri, which included a small breakfast, and which I consider great value for money for a three-star quite stylish hotel room in central Kyoto. I also liked that they have secure free bicycle parking – a relatively rare feature in a central Kyoto hotel, and since I cycle a lot in Kyoto, it was perfect!

They have another hotel at , the Prince Smart Inn Shijo Omiya, literally next to a bus sop and less than three minutes from a Hankyu Railway station, and literally metres from a major shopping area.

My second recommendation for the Downtown Area is Tabist Kiki Sanjo Takakura Hotel. My room was about twice the size of the Prince Smart Inn, and instead of pared down utility style, I got a much more Japanese flavour, with a tatami seating area Kyoto based Sou-Sou soft furnishings yet comfy big Western beds – the perfect blend for those whose backs and legs cannot tolerate traditional futon. I paid around 85 Euro per room per night in July 2024, which I considered a really good deal. However, there wasn’t much of a view in this particular room which is advertised as “with issues” at. I went to the Gion Matsuri Yoiyama and Yamaboko Junko, and it was easy to walk everywhere from the hotel, and it was close enough for a siesta during the hot early afternoons.

I usually only recommend hotels I have actually stayed at, and that I have paid for myself. In case I have not stayed at a property, I will say so, and give you the reason why I recommend it. You can trust me for honest and unbiased reviews.

The Small Print

I visited Kyoto several times between 2003 and 2025 as a tourist, and been to Kyukyodo Honten several times, both in Kyoto and in their Tokyo branch. I was not asked to write this post, nor did I receive any compensation for writing it – this is an honest recommendation.

There are some affiliate links to Booking.com in this post, which means I may earn a small commission if you use these links. I use Booking.com myself for most of hotel bookings (when not booking directly with the hotel) and I have only had good experience in the 15+ years I have used them. Thank you for reading!

Pin It!