Background
In July 2023, our family visited Kyoto and Osaka! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. We visited in late July and combined this trip with a Hawaii visit and 3 days in Seoul. We visited Asia previously (Tokyo 2017) but this was the first time Ellie came and the first time we visited the Kyoto/Osaka area.
This post covers our visit to central Kyoto including Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market and the Pokemon Center
Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links:
- Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info
- Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower
- Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae
- Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market
- Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info
- Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru
- Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori
- Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens,
- Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery
- Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple
Day 4: Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri
This day was a detour in our plans. We had originally planned on heading to Nara with deer and other fun sites. The kids were feeling the end of the trip running around woes and we decided to re-group and do some more kid focused activities. We had a great time and got to see some spots that I’m sure wouldn’t make many people’s must do itineraries but were fun additions to our day
Aeon mall: I saw on an instagram a fun arcade area in a mall near Kyoto station. This would also be a good detour if the Kyoto Railway museum is on your list. At the mall, we stopped by UNIQLO for some cute outfits and pokemon shirts. I always love uniqlo in Hawaii. We also went to DAISO, a dollar store where we spent too much money on small trinkets, toys, chopsticks, and washi tape. So much washi tape! At the arcade, the kids loved the pokemon and kirby game and we watched some streamers do some really complicated taiko drumming. So cool!
Nishiki Market: We didn’t get to wander the korean markets as much as I wanted to so we prioritized a spot at Nishiki market, a long strip of food stands and little market shops. We ate so well and for relatively cheaply. Ellie was in heaven with crab stick, Carter continued his love of eel, and we had takoyaki (octopus balls), tempura (fried shrimp), beer, mochi, and more. Note that you shouldn’t eat and walk so we kinda hovered at each stand. There were also options for sushi, steak, oysters and more.
Pokemon Center: After all the planning we did to avoid crowded places on weekends, we did not think about the craziness that would be the pokemon store on a Saturday afternoon. The line took about 30 minutes. There were lots of unique items and people playing games, both online and card games. It wasn’t particularly cheap but some of the items are exclusive to the store including really cute sleepy stuffies.
Gion Matsuri: We happened to visit in July during the Gion Matsuri Festival season. Although we didn’t see the actual parade, we were still able to see a really cool gallery exhibit next to the park that has pictures and a small gift shop. The floats are huge! We stopped for ramen for dinner, one of our favorite foods in Japan!
More Asia 2023 Posts
Read all of our 2023 Korea/Japan posts at the following links:
- Seoul, South Korea: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info
- Seoul Day 1: Myeongdong, Namsangol Hanok, Seoul Tower
- Seoul Day 2: Hanbok rental, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gwanham square, Hongdae
- Seoul Day 3: Gangnam Area, COEX Aquarium, Myeongdong Night Market
- Kyoto, Japan: Flights, Logistics, and Hotel Info
- Kyoto Day 1: Higashiyama Temples: Maruyama Park, Yasaka Shrine, Kiyozdemeru
- Osaka: Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Osaka Dotonbori
- Kyoto Day 2: Arashiyama River Cruise, Monkey Park, Bamboo Gardens,
- Kyoto Day 3:Aeon Mall, Nishiki Market, Pokemon Center,Gion Matsuri Gallery
- Kyoto Day 4: East Kyoto Temples: Philosophers Path, Nanzeji Temple
