My favourite market I love to visit in Japan is the Kobo-ichi market in Kyoto. It’s held on the 21st of every month (since 1239!) at Toji Temple which is famous for its five-story pagoda.
Kobo-ichi Market is a little different to a flea market because the stall holders are usually from real shops in the area. It’s a great place to buy second-hand antique wares and kimonos at bargain prices (think A$10 kimonos), as well as shop for handmade wares, eat hot snacks and admire the pagoda.
When we first visited 10 years ago, the shops overflowed to the street outside, where we ended up buying an antique wooden Hibachi grill, a kimono, and calligraphy ink stick & dish even before we entered the gate.
The market is free to attend and takes place even if it rains. Shops start opening at 5am and closes before 4pm. Their website does a great job of reporting and archiving the event each month.
Toji Temple, where the Kobo-ichi market is held, is located in central Kyoto. It’s only about a 15min walk from Kyoto station, but there is Toji Station closer by and also a bus stop right outside its gate.
Even if you do miss out on the market, Toji Temple is still great to visit in its own right. (Its iconic five-story pagoda is the tallest one in Japan!)
But because the market is held on the 21st of each month, it’s best to plan a Kyoto trip around this time, ranking Kobo-ichi as a 🥇(=plan a trip around it) on #myrevisitlist.
If you make your trip overlap 21st and the 25th, you can even go to the Tenjin-Ichi market at Kitano-Tenman Shrine. Tenjin-Ichi is about a quarter of the size of the Kobo-Ichi, but the locals say that if it rains on the day of the Kobo-Ichi, Tenjin-Ichi day will be sunny and vice versa.🤣
[Photos taken 2010, 2014 and 2024]
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