That way, I was able to make a few detours along the way. Since I had such a great time in Kyoto when I visited in May, this time I left Tokyo late at night, spent the night in the car, spent a day sightseeing in Kyoto, and then headed to Fukui.
I always go back to Fukui every year for Obon and New Year’s, and ever since I started driving, I’ve been making the trip by car.
I’m originally from Tokyo, but since my mother’s family is from Fukui, my grandmother’s house is in Fukui Prefecture.
As I felt that sense of nostalgia, I realized I’d truly grown up—now that I could drink such bitter coffee. I thoroughly enjoyed my elegant morning.
The cinnamon toast—made with fluffy white bread—has a texture from the coarse sugar and butter that reminds me of the cinnamon toast I used to eat in school lunches.
It was bustling with locals, and it seems this retro atmosphere has even been used as a filming location for TV shows and movies.
It was around 9:00 a.m. at that point, and since we were planning to go out for lunch again soon, I ordered a light breakfast of cinnamon toast and a cup of Marianne Blend coffee. The strong coffee was just the thing to wake me up in the morning.
First, we went to a coffee shop called “Marianne,” located right after the exit from the Kyoto Higashi Interchange. It has a distinctly retro Showa-era atmosphere; in addition to newspapers and magazines available for reading, they also offer a wide selection of breakfast sets.
The restaurant’s special cucumber salad, called “Kappa,” is light and refreshing and pairs perfectly with the meal. The gyoza are crispy, and the ramen has a light, clean flavor. I think it’s a flavor that appeals to people of all ages and genders. I ordered the small ramen, and my husband ordered the regular size, but I think the fact that they offer a small size makes it a great spot to visit with kids.
By the time I finished visiting Heian Jingu, it was already late afternoon, so I had an early dinner at the ramen shop “Ten.” Lately, even if you want to eat traditional soy sauce ramen in Tokyo, there are surprisingly few places that still serve it, but this place has a clean, clear broth that’s light and delicious.
Heian Jingu is remarkable not only for its buildings but also for its gardens. Although it was founded during the Meiji era, it was modeled after the Chodo-in, the main hall of Heian-kyo, so my stroll there allowed me to reflect on the lives of people during the Heian period. This depth of historical insight is something you just don’t find in the Kanto region, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve become so captivated by Kyoto.
There were plenty of places to take a break around Nanzen-ji Temple, such as restaurants serving hot tofu and coffee shops, so it seemed like a great idea to have lunch or tea nearby. From there, we headed to Heian Shrine to pay our respects.
After that, we walked about 20 minutes to Nanzen-ji Temple, the head temple of the Nanzen-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. The temple grounds include the Suikokaku, a historic water gate that once channeled water from Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, so visitors can explore both religious sites and historical infrastructure.
I could tell the restaurant had made an effort to keep operations efficient and minimize wait times as much as possible, which made for a really nice lunch.
The side dish of burdock root tempura was crispy, creating an exquisite harmony between the nutty aroma of the burdock and the tempura’s crunchy texture. The grated daikon radish, perfect for summer, went wonderfully with it! My husband’s soy sauce-flavored udon wasn’t made with a sharp soy sauce, but rather a milder, slightly sweet variety. This, too, pairs perfectly with Kyoto-style udon.
I had always thought that Kyoto-style udon was soft, but the udon here was incredibly smooth, springy, and chewy. Since I generally prefer firmer udon, I was worried whether Kyoto-style udon would suit my taste, but it was so delicious that I polished off the whole bowl in no time—even though I wasn’t that hungry at the time.
Since we arrived right when the restaurant opened, we seemed to be the first customers to eat in that day, and our udon was served immediately in the cool interior. I’d heard that Kyoto udon tends to be lightly seasoned, but the Kyoto-style broth here had a rich flavor—the broth’s taste was robust, yet you could still clearly taste the saltiness.
I was told that the meal comes in takeout containers. It’s convenient because you can simply take whatever you don’t finish home with you. This time, I ordered the “Mizore Bento”—a summer-only special featuring burdock root tempura served with grated daikon radish—with two types of dipping sauces: the standard dashi broth and a soy sauce-based sauce.
At that point, the main restaurant was fully booked and had a wait, but the takeout location had seating on the second floor where you could eat, and since they said they could seat us there right away, we decided to visit the takeout location this time.
I’ve been to Kyoto several times, but it occurred to me that I’d never actually tried Kyoto-style udon, so this time I really wanted to try some. My husband looked up a popular restaurant called “Yamamoto Menzo,” so we parked our car at the nearby Okazaki Park parking lot and headed there right around opening time.
From Kyoto to Fukui: Spending Time with Family and Sightseeing
With our stomachs full, we drove about three hours from Kyoto and arrived at my grandmother’s house in Fukui Prefecture.
Since my sister and her 5-year-old son—my nephew—had come home for this visit, I played with my nephew to my heart’s content, and we enjoyed all the classic summer activities as a family, like eating flowing somen noodles and setting off handheld fireworks.
For the first two days, we spent time with our family—playing with my nephew and visiting our ancestors’ graves together—and on the third day, we decided to go out for a bit, so my husband and I went to explore “Oshima,” an uninhabited island near Tojinbo.
This place was once featured on a TV show as a haunted spot, but when I actually visited, it didn’t have that kind of atmosphere at all—rather, it was an island where you could really feel the vitality of the plants. With nothing blocking the view, you can see the ocean stretching out in every direction, offering a breathtaking panorama.
While the cliffs at Tōjinbō are certainly captivating, the view of the Sea of Japan from the island was also magnificent. The walk around the island takes about 40 minutes, and even on a hot summer day, there’s plenty of shade under the trees—as long as you bring plenty of water, it makes for a pleasant stroll.
From there, we headed to “Sanrihama,” a nearby roadside station in Mikuni, to have lunch. Even though I return home every year and thought I’d tried just about every local specialty in Fukui, I had absolutely no idea that “rakkyo” was one of them.
So, I ordered “curry rice” with “rakkyo,” and my husband ordered the “Rakkyo Ramen Set.” The rakkyo, pickled in a sweet and sour brine, was crisp and went perfectly with the curry—it was delicious! I wonder why being at the beach in the summer always makes me crave curry.
The pickled garlic, which is famous for being the perfect pairing for that curry, made for a wonderful lunch. My husband’s pickled garlic ramen was also surprisingly great—the refreshing pickled garlic added a nice crunch and served as a great accent to the ramen.
After that, we went swimming for a bit at a nearby beach, then returned to my grandmother’s house to enjoy a family meal together. It was a day spent fully enjoying the natural beauty of the Sea of Japan.
And on our last day back in Tokyo, since my husband had never been to Eiheiji Temple or the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, we decided to visit both of them.
We decided to head first to the Dinosaur Museum, where we expected it to be crowded, and entered using an 11:00 a.m. reservation we’d made online. I’ve heard that during busy periods like Obon or winter break, you can end up waiting quite a while just to get into the parking lot, so it’s a good idea to come prepared with a bathroom break and a light snack. Although I was able to reserve a time slot online and had purchased my tickets in advance—a measure I assume is intended to alleviate crowding inside the museum by staggering entry times—it was still quite crowded inside. There were also many international visitors, which speaks to the Dinosaur Museum’s immense popularity.
This is my third visit since I was a child, and although I’ve introduced this dinosaur museum in a previous article, I think it’s a wonderful museum where you can experience not just dinosaurs, but the romance of our planet, Earth. The way the exhibits are presented—with lighting that makes it feel more like an amusement park ride than a museum—and the creative displays make it enjoyable no matter how many times you visit.
Also, because there’s so much information—it’s impossible to fully grasp everything in a single visit—it’s a museum you can enjoy no matter when you go, since your perspective changes with each visit and as you get older. This time, they were holding a special exhibition titled “Sauropods: The Largest Land Creatures That Shook the Earth,” so it was very interesting to learn about their life-size dimensions and how their anatomy differed from other dinosaurs in an easy-to-understand way.
After leaving the Dinosaur Museum, we decided to have lunch at a nearby soba restaurant called “Soba-dokoro Tenshin.”
Of course, when I come back to Fukui, I have to eat soba! So I ordered a set meal featuring oroshi soba and Fukui’s other famous specialty, the sauce katsu-don. In Fukui, when people say “katsu-don,” they’re not referring to the egg-topped version—this sauce katsu-don is the standard here.
The katsu don with egg is listed separately as “Egg-Topped Katsu Don.” This restaurant offers a set menu featuring both the egg-topped katsu don and the sauce katsu don, allowing customers to choose between the two.
The cutlet, generously coated in sauce, has a thin, crispy batter and is absolutely delicious! The culture of sauce katsu-don in Fukui originally began at a Western-style restaurant called “Europe-ken,” and it’s said that this style—featuring a thin batter coated in sauce—became established from there.
These soba noodles are a bit thinner than typical Echizen soba, so even people who aren’t used to thick soba should find them easy to eat. Plus, this slightly sweet soba dipping sauce really makes you feel like you’re eating Fukui-style soba.
After enjoying a delicious lunch that combined light and rich flavors, we set off for Eiheiji Temple.
Eiheiji is the head temple of the Sōtō Zen School, and it is a temple where monks undergo spiritual training. Therefore, photographing monks is prohibited, so please be mindful of this.
When I travel, I often visit temples and shrines, but I always try to remember that they are religious sites and pay my respects with the utmost respect.
Eiheiji Temple is a place rich in negative ions that instantly refreshes your spirit just by being there. It really makes me realize that temples are built in places with this kind of power.
There are plenty of souvenir shops along the approach to the shrine, so this time I used the parking lot at one of them. Most of the shops offer free parking if you make a purchase.
We visited Fukui’s two major tourist attractions—the Dinosaur Museum and Eiheiji Temple—and my husband seemed very pleased. Fukui Prefecture is rich in nature, boasts an abundance of seafood, offers delicious food, and has hot springs, so it’s been gradually gaining popularity as a tourist destination lately. I’m happy that people are starting to appreciate what Fukui has to offer.
When I was a child, there wasn’t even a dinosaur museum yet, and the Shinkansen didn’t run through the area, so I don’t think people were as aware of Fukui’s charms back then as they are now.
This time, I combined my trip home with sightseeing in both Kyoto and Fukui. I’d love to return to Kyoto someday to take my time exploring all the different places. There really are so many places to see there.
I wonder if I’d get tired of it once I actually lived there? Even so, I can totally understand why famous people choose to make Kyoto their home.
I enjoyed a slightly longer break last month on a camping trip, but this Obon holiday was my last summer vacation. This summer, I went camping for the first time and got bitten by bugs and mosquitoes, and on this trip, I went swimming in Kyoto and explored an uninhabited island—I feel like I was able to fully enjoy all the things that make summer special.
How was everyone’s summer vacation? It looks like the lingering summer heat will continue into September, but let’s enjoy the activities that are only possible in this kind of weather and make the most of the rest of the summer!
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