Water once favored by Sen no Rikyลซ
The spring water here is said to have been used for tea by Sen no Rikyลซ, the 16th-century master who shaped the tea ceremony. Every cup in the cafe is brewed with it, a taste passed down for 400 years.
Kyoto Store
ASAYU STORE CAFE ยท ROKKAKU, KYOTO
Our Matcha Cafe & Shop in Kyoto
Everything on this site, in one 100-year-old townhouse five minutes from Nishiki Market. Downstairs, our matcha whisked to order with spring water once favored by Sen no Rikyลซ. Upstairs, the shop.
1F ยท THE CAFE
Taste the Tea Collection First
The 1st floor is a daylit cafe. Every matcha and tea on the menu comes from our Tea Collection and is served in our pottery: the same bowls, cups and kyusu you can take home from the shop upstairs. Taste first, then choose.
On the menu
Open every day, 9:30โ17:00, the same hours as the shop. Walk-ins are welcome, and tables can be reserved through the Reserve button on our Google listing. Take-out available.
Reserve a Table..or take it away! ๐
Two things to look for while you sip
A pocket garden by Sano Tลemon
At the back of the 1st floor is a tsubo-niwa, a small courtyard garden open to the sky, designed by Sano Tลemon, the legendary Kyoto gardener known as Sakuramori, keeper of the cherry blossoms. Take a seat in the tatami room and look out.
Also worth a look: the hand-dyed noren by a Kyoto dyehouse founded in 1880, the iron chagama kettle set into the counter, the round window borrowed from Zen temples and tea rooms, and sliding doors painted with swallows, willow and Mt. Fuji.
2F ยท THE SHOP
What You'll Find Upstairs
Take the stairs from the cafe and you reach the shop: about 300 items from two Japanese brands, Asayu and our sister brand Wazakura. Here is the short version.
Japanese Incense
Incense in single scents, from sandalwood and hinoki to yuzu and green tea, with brass and ceramic holders to burn it on. Flat, light boxes that travel well.
Bath & Setta
Soap made with persimmon tannin, yuzu and hinoki, Japanese body towels, and setta sandals woven from igusa rush in traditional patterns. Small rituals for bath and home.
Bonsai & Ikebana Tools โ by our sister brand Wazakura
Scissors, cutters, kenzan and pots for bonsai and ikebana, forged by artisans in Niigata and made in Japan. Pick them up and feel the weight before you decide.
Also upstairs: matcha, loose-leaf teas and our tea ware.
Two Brands, One Floor
Wazakura โ tools from Niigata
Wazakura, our sister brand, makes bonsai, ikebana and garden tools that are 100% made in Japan. The blades are forged by artisans in Niigata and shipped to bonsai growers and florists around the world from wazakurajapan.com. In Kyoto you can pick them up, feel the weight, and open and close the blades before you decide โ something a product page can't offer.
Asayu โ for morning and evening
Asayu (ๆๅค) means "morning and evening." We make things for the small, everyday rituals in between: incense to light, tea to brew, soap to wash with, and the bowls, cups and holders that go with them. The Kyoto shop is where you can see, smell and hold everything first.
100-years-old Kyoto Machiya
The building is a Kyoto machiya townhouse about 100 years old. For most of its life it was Zeniya Tabi, a maker of split-toe tabi socks. Around six years ago, kimono dresser Teruno Miyake restored it from the ground up rather than let it be torn down. Today the 1st floor is our matcha cafe and the 2nd floor is the shop.
Rokkaku-cho is nicknamed "Kyoto no heso" โ the navel of Kyoto โ and Rokkakudo Temple, where ikebana began, is a few steps away. It feels right to sell ikebana scissors here.
Plan Your Visit
- Address
- 368-1 Rokkakucho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto 604-8212, Japan
(ไบฌ้ฝๅธไธญไบฌๅบๅ ญ่ง็บ368-1) - Hours
- Every day, 9:30โ17:00 โ cafe and shop.
- Getting here
- Subway Karasuma-Oike Station (Karasuma & Tozai lines): about 5 min on foot
- Hankyu Karasuma / Subway Shijo Station: about 6 min on foot
- Nishiki Market: about 5 min on foot
- Landmark: Rokkakudo Temple
- Finding the shop
- Enter through the cafe on the 1st floor and take the stairs. The shop is one flight up.
- Payment
- Credit cards, Apple Pay and QR code payments.
- Phone
- +81 75-231-0111
368-1 Rokkakucho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto 604-8212, Japan
Get DirectionsQuestions We're Often Asked
Can I just browse?
Of course. No purchase and no cafe order is needed to go upstairs. Take your time.
Do you ship overseas?
Yes. Everything Asayu ships worldwide from this site. Wazakura tools ship from wazakurajapan.com. Purchases made in the Kyoto shop are carry-out only.
Do you take credit cards?
Yes. Credit cards, Apple Pay and QR code payments are accepted.
Is tax-free shopping available?
No. We are not a tax-free shop. All prices include Japanese consumption tax.
Do I need to order at the cafe to visit the shop?
No. The stairs to the shop are inside the cafe, but you are welcome to walk straight up. Many visitors do the other way round: shop first, then sit down for matcha.
Can I have matcha while I shop?
Drinks stay in the cafe downstairs. Shop first and then sit down for matcha, or the other way round โ both floors keep the same hours.
Come Meet Us in Person
For years we lived only online. Now, for the first time, you can light the incense, hold the bowls and taste the tea at our own store, in a hundred-year machiya in Kyoto.
Open every day, 9:30โ17:00 ยท 368-1 Rokkakucho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto
Can't make it to Kyoto? Shop online โ
