Issen Yoshoku Head Shop

As you get off at Gion-Shijo Station in Kyoto and walk in the direction of Yasaka Shrine, you will see a store with the striking name Issen Yoshoku Head Shop on the corner of an intersection. The Issen Yoshoku that gives the store its name refers to the snacks made by women in candy shops for neighborhood children from the Taisho and early Showa eras, and was named “Issen Yoshoku” because it was sold for 1 sen per piece at the time. However, as time went by, the current style of okonomiyaki became the mainstream in the latter half of the Showa period, and the “Issen yoshoku” gradually disappeared. The founder, feeling a sense of crisis, said, “It’s a waste that we can’t have such a simple and tasty food! The Issen Yoshoku restaurant that I would like to introduce here is the result of his efforts to revive such a simple and delicious food.

One day after work, I went to Issen Yoshoku restaurant on my way home from work to try Issen Yoshoku, which can be called “Kyoto’s soul food”. So, this was my first experience of Issen Yoshoku. As I headed toward the restaurant, I was looking forward to it…

The interior of the shop is both theme park-like and a little bit dangerous… Issen Yoshoku Head Shop is a restaurant like this…

I arrived at Issen Yoshoku Head Shop around 6 p.m. on a weekday. When I looked inside the restaurant, there were only a few people in sight, and I was guided into the restaurant by a waiter. Issen Yoshoku is convenient for take-out and eating on the go, so it is understandable that few people eat and drink inside even during the dinner season, but when I entered the restaurant, I noticed a slight difference from what I had seen from the outside.

The people I thought were customers were actually mannequins. It was a female mannequin wearing a kimono, with the name of a certain female celebrity written on a nameplate on her chest. “Is this OK?” I thought for a moment. There are many other retro goods and ema (votive picture tablet) displayed in the shrine, but many of them are written in a vulgar and a little bit dangerous style. It might be a good idea to visit the store to feel the atmosphere of such a different dimension.

This is Kyoto-style okonomiyaki…Issen Yoshoku, the only menu item at Issen Yoshoku Head Shop, what did I actually think when I tried it?

Let me now introduce the Issen Yoshoku that I ordered that day, the only item on Issen Yoshoku Head Shop‘s menu. After about five minutes of waiting after ordering, it was brought out in front of me like this…

It is shaped like a thin flour dough wrapping the contents, with a generous amount of sauce poured over the top. Doesn’t this look somewhat like okonomiyaki? In my opinion, including the history of Issen Yoshoku, I feel that this is what Kyoto-style okonomiyaki is all about.

This dough is quite filling, with chopped green onions, beef tendon meat, konnyaku, tenkasu, chikuwa, and other ingredients. There are no high-end ingredients, but a small child would probably find it quite luxurious. The sauce on this is Worcestershire sauce-based and has an elegant yet piquant flavor. Unlike Osaka- or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which are covered with a thick sauce, this dish is light and easy to eat, so I was able to gobble it up in a matter of minutes.

When I tried this kind of Issen Yoshoku, I felt a kind of love for small children. Nowadays, there are a variety of options available as snacks for children, but back when Issen Yoshoku was first conceived, it could have been called a treat rather than a snack. Especially for those of a generation with considerable life experience, one could feel a kind of nostalgia for the time when they were born and raised while eating this. Of course, for young people living today, this is also a dish that can be recommended as a Kyoto original B-class gourmet that cannot be eaten anywhere else.

Issen Yoshoku can also be purchased at the Kyoto Takashimaya Department Store and Mitsui Outlet Park Shiga Ryuoh…Issen Yoshoku Head Shop is a one-minute walk from the nearest station, Gion Shijo Station on the Keihan Electric Railway line

In addition to Issen Yoshoku Head Shop, you can also purchase Issen Yoshoku at the Kyoto Takashimaya Department Store in Shijo-Kawaramachi and at a store in the Mitsui Outlet Park Shiga Ryuoh. I have been there many times before, but I never knew there was a store in the Kyoto Takashimaya Department Store… Although it is not easy to eat and walk around even if you buy it in a department store, it is one of the soul foods of Kyoto that tourists should try at least once. If you happen to pass by the store, please give their traditional Kyoto-style okonomiyaki a try!

Now, here are the details of the restaurant…

It takes 4 minutes on foot from Kyoto Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu Railway line.