Terrace Dining Over Kyoto’s Kamo River, at Yakiniku Hiro
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Welcome entrance to the Kiyamachi branch of Hiro yakiniku restaurant, Kyoto Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 — map & image datanearby photos
Welcome
entrance to the Kiyamachi branch of Hiro yakiniku restaurant, Kyoto Japan

Yesterday we went with Fumie's folks for an early dinner at the Kiyamachi branch of Hiro (京の焼肉処 弘), a small upscale yakiniku restaurant, overlooking Kyoto's Kamogawa river.

Heading In -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/10, ISO 6400 — map & image datanearby photos
Heading In
On the Terrace -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 20mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
On the Terrace

From April to September, ninety or so restaurants along the river erect terraces over the small side river that parallels the larger Kamo river. It's quite nice if you're there early in the summer (no mosquitoes yet), and early in the evening (smokers haven't arrived yet).

Looking Over The Railing layers from bottom to top: stream, stone edging, grass, path, grass -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 16mm — 1/400 sec, f/10, ISO 1400 — map & image datanearby photos
Looking Over The Railing
layers from bottom to top: stream, stone edging, grass, path, grass

The weather was wonderful and many people were enjoying the recently-relandscaped park between the stream and the river...

Looking South toward the Sanjo-Street bridge -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/400 sec, f/11, ISO 800 — map & image datanearby photos
Looking South
toward the Sanjo-Street bridge
Looking North toward the Ooike-Street bridge -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/400 sec, f/11, ISO 720 — map & image datanearby photos
Looking North
toward the Ooike-Street bridge

The dining over the river in this area has a long history going back to the 1600s, though it seems to have made an appearance on my blog only once before (here).

The word to describe this idea is 川床, which might be roughly translated as “river dais”, though strangely the exact same characters are pronounced yuka when referring to it in this situation at the Kamo River, but it's pronounced the more normal kawadoko when referring to the same event a few kilometers north, in Kibune (as seen in this post).

It's also called 納涼床, with the middle character lending an air of breezy coolness to help break a stagnant summer's sweaty grip, but while it truly is cooler to eat directly over the river as seen in the post linked at the end of the prior paragraph, you're far enough away from the river in this Kamo River situation that I don't think it really matters. Still, until the mosquitoes and smokers come, it's quite nice.

Red, White, and Blue -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/800 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Red, White, and Blue

This area used to be rough cemented cinder block and stones, as seen here and here, and so the relandscaping done over the winter makes it much nicer than before. The couple above is sitting pretty much where Fumie and I came to sit on the first evening we met, 14 years ago. Nice memory.

Cute Puppy Photo by Anthony Friedl -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Anthony, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1000 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Cute Puppy
Photo by Anthony Friedl

Anthony tried to take a picture of the puppy, but ended up getting a nice photo of the couple walking by. Their clothing style is not my cup of tea, but they make for a nice shot.

Fumie's mom had just returned from an overseas trip, so she was the guest of honor.

Fumie's Mom my mother-in-law; Anthony's grandma -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Fumie's Mom
my mother-in-law; Anthony's grandma
Kanpai! “Cheers” -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Kanpai!
“Cheers”
First Course -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 — map & image datanearby photos
First Course
second course Beef Sushi Was really good, melty-in-your-mouth good -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/3200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
second course
Beef Sushi
Was really good, melty-in-your-mouth good

Third course was a stupendous amount of exceedingly tasty beef that we cooked ourselves at the table. I was too busy stuffing my face to remember the camera.

Mildly Annoying Child -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 720 — map & image datanearby photos
Mildly Annoying Child

The boy was doing his best to pester the family of ducks, but it was like water off a ducks back to them, and they just lazily sauntered away from him, despite his trying to shoot them with a toy puff gun...

Wait, Come Back... -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 220 — map & image datanearby photos
Wait, Come Back...
Evening Crowd Starts to Gather -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 220 — map & image datanearby photos
Evening Crowd Starts to Gather

This has long been an area where the youthful nightlife congregates in the evening, especially just on the other side of the bridge.

You can see a number of people sitting along the river in the shot above. The pair the furthest away also appear in this reverse-angle (from across the river) water-level-monitoring frame, from the Kyoto Prefectural website...

Even this morning after a heavy rain the water rose four or five feet, but from time to time it overflows the whole area, such as in this shot taken at the same time as my “Kyoto Kamo River Flooding” post...

Last Year -- Kamo River -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1/320 sec, f/8, ISO 560 — map & image datanearby photos
Last Year

But last night, the water was down and the area between the stream and the river was dry, and a pleasant mood filled the air...

Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Concentrating -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 — map & image datanearby photos
Concentrating

I'd like to say that this tussly-haired kid was engrossed in some literary work of high esteem, but alas, he was just playing a game on my iPad.

Checking Out the River -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Checking Out the River
Good-Looking Kid if I do say so myself :-) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Good-Looking Kid
if I do say so myself 🙂

While on the entrance path seen in the first two photos above, you walk by two huge picture windows showing the restaurant's kitchen...

Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 6400 — map & image datanearby photos
Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm — 1/160 sec, f/7.1, ISO 6400 — map & image datanearby photos

From the taxi on the way home, while crossing the bridge, I tried to get a shot of the terrace we'd just been on, but it proved difficult...

Terraces Above the River only the end railing of Hiro's terrace is visible, just right of center -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3600 — map & image datanearby photos
Terraces Above the River
only the end railing of Hiro's terrace is visible, just right of center

All 4 comments so far, oldest first...

Good Heavens, Jeff. What was that leaf in the soup under “First Course”? It looked like marijuana to me, even though I’ve never actually seen any before. Was the soup particularly good, or can you even recall?? Do you remember much about the evening.

IN “Checking out the River”, I was struck by how much Anthony looks like you did at that age

That was a particularly charming picture of Fumie’s mom..

Of all those restaurants, how does one choose which one to patronize?

How do you know what marijuana looks like, Mom? (Don’t answer that). I assumed it was a garnish and set it aside. —Jeffy

— comment by Grandma Friedl in Ohio, USA on May 23rd, 2011 at 12:43am JST (13 years, 7 months ago) comment permalink

“how does one choose which one to patronize” –Grandma Friedl.

The one that spikes the soup, I suppose. ;>

Anthony looks different now than in earlier pictures. That thought occurred to me in “Mountaintop Silliness” (the article I read before this one); this article confirmed to me (“Good-Looking Kid” in particular).

— comment by parv on May 24th, 2011 at 6:54pm JST (13 years, 6 months ago) comment permalink

Hi! I stumbled on this while researching for my honeymoon to Japan next Summer! I am planning on being in Kyoto for 3 or 4 days. I was curious how much money this dinner was. You mentioned it was upscale, and it looks really nice. I am starting ti budget my trip so more information would be nice! Were reservations required? Can you give me any advice or suggestions for my trip to Kyoto?? I have never been to Japan before and I can use all the tips and help I can get!
THANKS!
Staci, San Diego

If I recall, the one we had cost about 5,000 yen per person, but I’m not sure. Reservations are suggested if it’s a nice day and you want to sit outside. It’s hard to give suggestions without knowing more than “3 or 4 days; honeymoon”, but gardens like at the Heian Shrine or the Ryouanji Temple make for slow, romantic strolls. Places like the Nanzen Temple, Heian Shrine, Kyoto Station, and the Golden Pavilion make for nice photo ops. I’m a fan for not trying to pack too much into a trip… one wants to enjoy it, especially if it’s a honeymoon(!) Contrats. —Jeffrey

— comment by Staci on October 22nd, 2013 at 6:34am JST (11 years, 2 months ago) comment permalink

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into those shrines and temples. We will be in Kyoto for 4 days and Tokyo for 4 days (but 2 of those will be at Disneyland!) Thanks again for the help!
Staci Knox 🙂

— comment by Staci Knox on October 24th, 2013 at 2:09am JST (11 years, 1 month ago) comment permalink
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