Kyoto : Mochi Pounding Experience & Tea Ceremony Experience
Located near Nijo Castle, you can enjoy a package that includes both a mochi-pounding experience and a tea ceremony in an authentic Kyoto townhouse built over 100 years ago.
Cold bracken-starch mochi dusted in kinako and drizzled with kuromitsu, the city's summer wagashi sold cup-by-cup at Nishiki Market and tea houses.
Warabi-mochi has roots in Heian-era Kyoto, originally made from wild-foraged warabi (bracken fern) starch, expensive enough that Emperor Daigo (897-930) was said to favour it. The modern Nishiki Market form, sold cup-by-cup dusted in kinako roasted soybean and drizzled with kuromitsu syrup, codified in the Showa era. Counter stands at Nishiki Market still press fresh warabi-mochi by the cup; the form is now Kyoto's most-photographed summer snack.
3 editor picks for Warabi-mochi in Kyoto, ranked by editorial score. All Kyoto signature dishes · Warabi-mochi across every city.
Demachi Futaba ★ 4.7
demachiyanagi · Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-0822, Japan
A wagashi shinise on Kawaramachi north of Imadegawa in Kyoto, famed for its mame-mochi: salted black soybeans pressed into sweet azuki paste-filled mochi.
Kagizen Yoshifusa ★ 4.6
gion · Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0073, Japan
An 18th-century wagashi maker on Shijo-dori with a tatami tea room behind the storefront. Tsukimi rabbit jellies and the most quoted kuzukiri in Kyoto.
Warabimochi Kamakura Kyoto ★ 4.2
karasuma-kawaramachi · Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8161, Japan
An iced warabi-mochi specialist in Nakagyo, Kyoto. Bracken-starch mochi in iced kinako milk, plus a single-flavour matcha or hojicha cold-cup option.
Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide
Warabi-mochi makes more sense with someone from Kyoto explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
Taste Warabi-mochi with a local in Kyoto
Kyoto: Traditional Mochi Pounding Experience with Tasting
Learn to make mochi in a hands-on class in Kyoto. Create red bean mochi, mochi ice cream, and more, then enjoy your creations with a cup of traditional matcha tea.
Kyoto Gion Cultural Walk & Geisha Show with Dining Options
Discover the culture and life of being a geisha hidden behind the sliding doors of Gion on a walking tour. Watch a live geisha show and enjoy dinner, lunch or tea with...