Time for Noryo Yuka!
Jun 15th, 2009 by Ad Blankestijn
“Noryo yuka” are wooden terraces built over a small canal running parallel to the River Kamo in Kyoto. Those structures are set up between May 1 and September 30 at the back of the many restaurants that sit between Nijo and Gojo streets so that patrons can enjoy dinner in the cool evening breeze. There are about 80 such dining platforms. It is an old custom, going back to Edo times.
[LIFE AS IT WAS IN OLD JAPAN -- Four Maiko Dining on "Yuka" Along the Bank of the Kamo River, KYOTO. From the Flickr Photostream uploaded by Okinawa Soba]
The Kamo riverside used to be a sort of no man’s land where entertainers and prostitutes lived and plied their trade already since the 14th century. At those times, benches (called shogi) would be set up by food stalls for their customers and it is thought these developed into wooden terraces connected to restaurants. The terraces became a sort of permanent fixtures, but were pulled down in the rather stiff Meiji-period, to make place for modern developments.
The above picture shows a scene from about 1898 when the terrace was apparently still built in a low position above the Kamo River itself rather than on high stilts above the embankment. The picture was taken by famous photographer T. Enami.
[Noryo Yuka of Starbucks, Sanjo Ohashi, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]
And the wheel of time keeps turning. Besides Japanese food in all price-classes, you can today also have Thai, Korean, Chinese, and even Starbucks coffee on a “noryo yuka!” Kyoto is hot and humid in summer, but the sight alone of the river makes you feel cooler, not to speak of the many lanterns adding charm to the evening scene.
Enter via the streetside of the restaurant, so from Pontocho etc. Except May and September, the noryu yuka are not open in the daytime. Kyoto Visitors Guide has some suggestions for restaurants.
I remember having dinner at a Chinese restaurant called ‘Tohkasaikan’ (www.tohkasaikan.com) there about a year ago. Although certainly not the best Chinese restaurant in town, the Peking Duck and Gyoza were quite good. What drew me to this restaurant though was the magnificent Taisho era building in which it is housed. Inside the building, designed in 1926 by American architect W.M. Vories, one can still find many authentic details, like the wood paneling and an old-fashioned manually operated elevator, said to be the oldest existing elevator in Japan (which I doubt though). In summer the rooftop garden/terrace is open.
Thanks for the suggestion – I have passed the restaurant countless times, but never been inside. I’ll try the rooftop beer garden this summer!