Bistro Fine Dining, a Bamboo Grove, and Maiko Entertainment at Fortune Garden Kyoto

A Beloved Local Landmark

Fortune Garden Kyoto is a remarkable restaurant space, founded as the former headquarters of the Shimadzu corporation in 1927. It was a masterpiece of early modern art deco architecture designed by Goichi Takeda, renovated today to include a traditional bamboo grove and koi pond in its inner garden area.

The front gate approach to Fortune Garden Kyoto

But there is more to the place than its stately architecture or opulent garden space. An integral part of the history of its neighborhood and community, the clock on the building’s face once served as an indispensable public timepiece and popular meeting spot in a time before most people carried even pocket watches.

The bamboo grove of Fortune Garden Kyoto

A Welcome Toast and a Maiko Host

In the private dining space affectionately known as the “Cozy Room,” guests in this Wabunka experience sit down to sup on exquisite fusion fare — but not before a welcome toast of your choice of champagne or traditional Japanese sake with a view of the bamboo grove. 

View the bamboo garden from the “Cozy Room”

Enjoy the thrill of a top shelf tipple as it might feel in the gorgeous bamboo forests of nearby Arashiyama without the hike, from the classy comfort of your own private dining room. Around this time, your party will be joined by perhaps the most quintessentially Kyoto part of the whole evening: a real maiko apprentice geisha.

Bottoms up with an opening toast of your choice of champagne or traditional Japanese sake

Take in a traditional teahouse dance performance atop traditional tatami mats with the garden as backdrop, before partaking in traditional ozashiki-asobi parlor games designed to loosen up teahouse patrons and foster an atmosphere of lively cheer.

A real Kyoto maiko – or apprentice geisha – performs a traditional teahouse dance in your private dining room

One such game is called Konpira funefune. The two players face each other and touch the cup between them in turn. If the cup is on the table when it is your turn, you must touch the cup with a flat hand. If the cup is not on the table when it is your turn, you must touch the table with a fist. Failure to do either means you lose the game. The game will be played as an icebreaker between the Maiko and you.

Tradition, Modernity, Fun, and Delicious Dining

After reveling in the traditional entertainment provided by the maiko, it’s time to dine. The restaurant’s Cozy Room is a spacious yet intimate private dining room setting full of luxury touches, from its fully stocked bar to its sumptuous view of the bamboo garden and the other buildings of the facility beyond.

The “Cozy Room” is indeed just that

The table is set with warm lighting pieces true to the name of the space, with an ornamental centerpiece of latticework in soothing bamboo wood that evokes the cultural naturalism of the garden and the storied tradition of this Kyoto institution.  

Rounding Out the Rapture of the Repast

This course includes a magnificent meal of iconic Japanese fare made of locally sourced ingredients friendly to international palates, including fresh seasonal vegetables, authentic high-brand Wagyu beef, and Kyoto pork. Non-pork and vegetarian options are also available.

A spread of high-class fresh local fare awaits (non-pork and vegetarian options also available)

Delight in seared Hirai beef nigiri sushi, and a main course of shabu-shabu hotpot – in which diners swish thinly-sliced pieces of raw meat into steaming soup broth to flash-cook them just moments before each bite. 

The hotpot also includes seasonal vegetables simmered on the spot for delectable freshness, and a shime (“finisher”) of ramen. All this excellent eating is enhanced with a toothsome bevy of delicious dips, scrumptious seasonings, and tasty toppings.

Fortune Garden’s Kyoto pork shabu-shabu may just spoil your standards for the dish

Enjoy it all with your choice of beverage from the wide assortment you’d expect to find in any classic restaurant bar, including wine, beer, sake, spirits, and soft drinks. When the meal is finished, top it all off with a dessert of ice cream and a glass of digestif. 

What’s more, guests of this exclusive Wabunka experience can also choose the optional add-on of having a commemorative photo professionally taken by the garden pond with their maiko entertainer as a keepsake of this rare opportunity (additional fees apply).

As an optional add-on, take a commemorative photo with your maiko entertainer beside the koi pond in the bamboo grove (additional fees apply)

Whether opting for the commemorative photo by the koi pond or not, all participants are welcome to take photos with the maiko using the bamboo grove as backdrop using their own phone or camera.

A Five-Senses Tour of Kyoto’s Local History, Traditional Entertainment, Architectural Aesthetics, Natural Beauty, and Culinary Gusto

All these elements – the neighborhood history, the architectural beauty, the rich traditions of fun and entertainment, and the unparalleled culinary joy – add up to a five-senses symphony with real Kyoto soul in every note.

A day to be savored; the memory of a lifetime

When the owners of this building considered tearing it down for new development, the residents of Kyoto simply wouldn’t hear of it. And so Fortune Garden was born: a way to preserve the historic structure while welcoming the public inside as diners, or for weddings or other gatherings, to sumptuous meals and entertainment amidst gorgeous architecture and garden design.

Commemorative photo with maiko entertainer as a keepsake

It’s an experience you’re apt to remember fondly for years, filled with the celebratory fun and gustatory delight that travel is all about, with so many touches of authentic local flair in such a timeless fixture of the locale that you might one day scarcely believe you experienced it all in a single day.