Souvenirs & Shipping
お土産と発送
What is worth buying here rather than anywhere else, and how to get it home without carrying it.
京都で買う価値のあるものと、持ち帰り方法。
Worth buying in Kyoto
京都ならではのもの
| Matcha and sencha | 抹茶・煎茶 | Uji tea is the reason Kyoto tea has a reputation. Buy from a specialist rather than a souvenir shop — they will explain grades and vacuum-seal it for the flight. | 宇治茶。土産物店より専門店の方が良質で、真空包装もしてもらえます。 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wagashi | 和菓子 | Fresh sweets last only a day or two; dried ones (higashi) and bean jelly (yokan) keep for weeks and travel well. | 生菓子は日持ちしません。干菓子・羊羹なら長持ちします。 |
| Yatsuhashi | 八ツ橋 | The cinnamon sweet everyone brings back. Sold everywhere; the raw folded kind is the good one. | 生八ツ橋が定番です。 |
| Knives | 包丁 | Kyoto has serious knife shops that will sharpen, engrave a name and wrap for cabin restrictions. Put them in checked luggage or ship them. | 名入れ・研ぎに対応する専門店があります。機内持ち込み不可です。 |
| Ceramics | 清水焼 | Kiyomizu-yaki, sold in the shops along the approach to Kiyomizu-dera. Shops will pack for shipping. | 清水寺の参道に多数。発送用の梱包に対応する店もあります。 |
| Textiles | 織物・染物 | Nishijin weaving, tenugui hand towels, furoshiki wrapping cloths. Light, flat, and genuinely useful at home. | 西陣織、手ぬぐい、風呂敷。軽くて嵩張りません。 |
| Incense | お香 | Kyoto's incense houses go back centuries. Small, light, and the smell brings the trip straight back. | 老舗の香舗があります。小さく軽い土産です。 |
| Sake | 日本酒 | Fushimi, one stop down the Keihan line, is one of Japan's great brewing districts. Breweries there sell direct and several offer tastings. | 京阪沿線の伏見は酒どころ。蔵元で購入・試飲ができます。 |
| Nishiki Market | 錦市場 | Pickles, dried goods, sesame, yuba, spice blends. Twelve minutes away, and the best place to buy things people will actually eat. | 漬物、乾物、ゆば、七味など。徒歩12分。 |
Tax-free shopping
免税手続き
Visitors on a short-stay entry status can buy tax-free at licensed shops above a minimum spend. You will need your passport at the till — not a photo of it, the passport itself.
短期滞在の外国人旅行者は、免税店で一定額以上の購入時に消費税が免除されます。会計時にパスポート原本が必要です。
Consumables bought tax-free are sealed in a bag that must not be opened before you leave Japan. Keep the paperwork with your passport.
消耗品は出国まで開封できない袋で封入されます。書類はパスポートと一緒に保管してください。
Rules and thresholds change from time to time. Confirm the current terms at the shop.
制度の詳細は変更される場合があります。店舗でご確認ください。
Sending things home
海外への発送
By post
郵便局から
Japan Post handles international parcels. Three speeds — EMS (fastest, trackable), air, and surface, which takes two to three months but costs a fraction. Boxes and tape are sold at the counter, and staff will help with the customs form.
EMS・航空便・船便（2〜3か月、格安）から選べます。段ボールと梱包材は窓口で購入でき、税関告知書の記入も案内してもらえます。
Post offices generally close at 17:00 and are shut at weekends, apart from the larger central branches. Go on a weekday.
郵便局は17時に閉まり、土日は休みです（一部の大型局を除く）。
Within Japan
国内の配送
Any convenience store will send a parcel or a suitcase to your next hotel, usually overnight. This is the single most underused piece of travel infrastructure in Japan — sending your case ahead and travelling with a day bag transforms a Shinkansen journey.
コンビニから宅配便を出せます。スーツケースを次の宿へ送っておくと、移動が格段に楽になります。
What cannot be posted
送れないもの
- Alcohol — restricted or prohibited to many countries, and never by air with some carriers.
- 酒類：仕向国により制限・禁止されます。
- Fresh food, meat, dairy, plants and seeds — most countries refuse them at the border.
- 生鮮食品・肉・乳製品・植物・種子：多くの国で持込禁止です。
- Lithium batteries and aerosols — air freight restrictions apply.
- リチウム電池・スプレー類：航空輸送に制限があります。
Check your own country's import rules before you buy food to send. The post office will tell you what Japan forbids, not what your country does.
お住まいの国の輸入規制を事前にご確認ください。
Buying at the airport
空港での購入
Kansai International has a large selection of Kyoto sweets and tea after security, at much the same prices. If you run out of time in the city, you have not really run out of time — but the specialist shops here sell things the airport does not.
関西国際空港でも京都の菓子・茶は購入できます。ただし専門店でしか買えないものもあります。
Four shops worth the walk
歩いて行ける専門店
These are specialists rather than souvenir shops, and they sell things the airport does not. Walking times are from the front door.
土産物店ではなく専門店です。徒歩分数は玄関からの目安です。
| Gion Tsujiri 祇園辻利 Tea · about 5 min | 祇園辻利 祇園本店 茶／徒歩約5分 |
Matcha and sencha from a house founded in Uji in 1860, in Gion since 1948. Tins of matcha travel well and clear customs anywhere. On Shijo, on the way to Yasaka Shrine. 10:30–21:00. The tea room upstairs is separate and usually has a queue — the shop counter does not. Map ↗ | 1860年宇治創業、1948年より祇園。抹茶・煎茶。缶入りの抹茶は持ち帰りやすく、税関も問題ありません。四条通、八坂神社へ向かう途中。10:30〜21:00。2階の茶寮は行列しますが、物販カウンターは別です。地図 ↗ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aritsugu 有次 Knives · about 13 min | 有次 包丁／徒歩約13分 |
Swordsmiths from 1560, knife-makers ever since — 450 years of the same trade, and still what professional chefs in Kyoto buy. In Nishiki Market. They will engrave your name in the blade while you wait, which takes about twenty minutes and costs nothing extra. 10:00–17:00, closed Wednesdays and 1–4 January. Pack knives in checked baggage, never carry-on. Map ↗ | 1560年に刀鍛冶として創業、以来450年の刃物店。京都の一流料理人が使う包丁です。錦市場内。その場で名入れをしてくれます（20分ほど）。10:00〜17:00、水休・1月1〜4日休。刃物は必ず預入荷物へ。地図 ↗ |
| Shoyeido Sannenzaka 松栄堂 産寧坂店 Incense · about 15 min | 松栄堂 産寧坂店 香／徒歩約15分 |
Incense from one of Kyoto's oldest houses, on the slope up to Kiyomizu — easy to combine with the temple walk. Light, flat, unbreakable and inexpensive, which makes it close to the ideal thing to carry home. Map ↗ | 京都有数の香老舗。清水寺への参道・産寧坂沿いなので、寺社めぐりと合わせられます。軽くて薄く、壊れず、値段も手頃で、土産としては理想的です。地図 ↗ |
| Ippodo 一保堂茶舗 Tea · about 20 min | 一保堂茶舗 京都本店 茶／徒歩約20分 |
Founded 1717, and the tea shop other tea shops defer to. Further out on Teramachi, so worth pairing with the Nishiki walk rather than making a separate trip. 09:00–18:00. Map ↗ | 1717年創業。寺町通で少し離れているので、錦市場と合わせて回るのがおすすめです。9:00〜18:00。地図 ↗ |
Opening hours change. Each name links to the map, which shows what is true today.
営業時間は変わります。各店名から地図をご確認ください。
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