Sumptuous Tea Time and Maiko Entertainment at Art Deco Landmark Fortune Garden Kyoto

A Beloved Local Landmark

Fortune Garden Kyoto is a remarkable restaurant space. Its structure, originally built as the headquarters of the Shimadzu Corporation in 1927, is a masterpiece of early modern art deco architecture designed by Goichi Takeda. It has since been renovated with the addition of a traditional bamboo grove and koi pond in its courtyard garden area to complete its transition from private corporate headquarters to accessible fine dining bistro and event venue.

The front gate approach to Fortune Garden Kyoto

Still, there is far more to the place than stately architecture or opulent garden space. An integral part of the history of its neighborhood and community, the building’s street-facing outer clock once served as an indispensable public timepiece and popular meeting spot in an era before most people carried even pocket watches. This beloved role in local life and the fond attachments it elicited are a large part of why the iconic structure has survived to the present day.

The bamboo grove of Fortune Garden Kyoto

Traditional Teahouse-style Entertainment with a Maiko Host in a Chic, Private Modern Space

In addition to a main public dining room, Fortune Garden offers a number of secluded private dining spaces – all of which offer stirring views of the gorgeously landscaped courtyard bamboo grove outside, backdropped by the art deco main structure and other wings. It’s the perfect setting to experience a lavish tea time and traditional Kyoto-style entertainment in luxurious privacy. The decor of the room both evokes and accentuates the cultural naturalism of the garden and the storied tradition of this Kyoto institution.

View of the bamboo garden from one of the private dining and tea spaces

The maiko host in this experience represents living Kyoto tradition: a genuine apprentice geisha trained in traditional dance, music, and the intricate etiquette of Edo period (1603-1868) style entertainment through conversation and charm. Maiko and geisha are part of the city’s historic ochaya (teahouse) culture, wherein teahouses have long served as popular semi-private gathering places for personages from all corners of society to discuss business, socialize, or most-of-all enjoy relaxation and merrymaking.

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

True to the rich and often complex cultural history and symbolism of Kyoto and its arts, maiko adorn themselves with ornate kimonos, elaborate hairstyles, and an assortment of both subtle and flamboyant accessories – each imbued with cultural and seasonal symbolism. They typically wear an embroidered red collar on their inner kimono denoting their apprentice status, and maintain their coiffures through painstaking routines involving such measures as using only specially-designed wooden neck pillows to avoid mussing their hair in their sleep.

Tradition, Modernity, Fun, and a Sumptuous Teatime with Sweet Treats

Experience this historically rich ochaya-style entertainment culture for yourself with a real maiko as your host. Take in a traditional teahouse dance performance atop tatami mats with the garden as backdrop before joining in on traditional “ozashiki-asobi” parlor games designed to loosen up teahouse patrons and foster an atmosphere of lively cheer.

The elegant kimono, coiffure, makeup, and accessories of Kyoto maiko are rich in cultural significance

One popular such game is known as “Konpira Funefune.” Two players face each other and take turns either touching or picking up the cup between them while keeping rhythm with a shared chant. 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 in keeping with the rhythm means you lose the game. This beloved game has long been played as an icebreaker between maiko and their guests.

Taste Kyoto Tradition in a Comforting Cuppa and a Soothingly Mellow-sweet Wagashi Confection

After reveling in the traditional entertainment provided by the maiko, it’s time for tea and wagashi sweet treats. The restaurant’s spacious yet intimate private dining rooms are full of luxury touches, from their charming decor to their sumptuous view of the bamboo garden and other corners of the facility’s renowned architecture beyond. They are the perfect place to sit down to a cup of matcha tea freshly brewed by a genuine Kyoto maiko. Enjoy the thrill of a lavish teatime as it might feel in the gorgeous bamboo forests of nearby Arashiyama – without the hike – from the classy comfort of your own private teatime space.

Brewing matcha with a chasen whisk

Traditionally, a sweet pairing to the rich umami and gentle bitterness of the fresh-brewed tea is served in the form of confectionery known as wagashi. In this plan, guests can enjoy walnut wasanbon and butter dorayaki – two delightful wagashi confections chosen for their perfect balance of delectable flavor, deep cultural roots, and friendliness to international palates.

Wasanbon is made with a unique Japanese form of cane sugar primarily grown in Kagawa and Tokushima, and refined using painstaking traditional craft methods for a truly unparalleled texture and sweetness. Butter dorayaki, on the other hand, is made with a combination of adzuki red beans – long held in Japan’s lore to ward off evil spirits because of their auspicious color, and traditionally eaten during important celebrations marking the equinoxes or the new year – and of course, butter.

Dorayaki, a classic Japanese wagashi confectionery

This Wabunka exclusive plan also features the optional add-on of a commemorative photo professionally taken beside the garden pond with your maiko entertainer as a keepsake of this quintessential Kyoto memory (additional fees apply).

All participants are welcome to take photos with the maiko using the bamboo grove as backdrop using their own phone or camera.

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

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

All of these elements – the neighborhood history, the architectural beauty, the rich traditions of fun and entertainment, and the soothing comfort of matcha tea with wagashi confectionery – add up to a five-senses symphony with real Kyoto soul in every note.

Commemorative photo with maiko entertainer as a keepsake (additional fees apply)

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 the Fortune Garden of today was born: a way to preserve the historic structure while welcoming the public inside as diners, or for weddings or other gatherings, to sumptuous eats and treats and entertainment amidst gorgeous architecture and garden design.

Fortune Garden’s courtyard

It’s an experience you’re apt to remember fondly for years, filled with the celebratory fun and quietly soothing, meditative fun 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.