¥5,000 Beef Skewers: Is Nishiki Market a Ripoff? A Kyoto Local Goes Back

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 60 of 281 comments

• It's so packed you can't walk — I hate even cutting through it now. "That's not Kyoto anymore," is how a lot of us Kyotoites feel.

  もう横切るのすらも嫌なくらい人多すぎて歩けませんよね。。あれはもう京都ちゃいます～と思ってる京都人

  — @ryoko9564150 likes

• Ten years ago there wasn't a single shop aimed at inbound tourists. Now the old established stores are being pushed out and closing, and year by year the market gets taken over by that kind of shop. It's heartbreaking. 😭

  10年前は､インバウンドに向けてるお店なんて無かったのに､老舗が追いやられるように閉業して､年々そう言うお店に占拠される錦市場､悲しいです😭

  — @meecomeeco963491 likes

• A wagyu skewer for ¥5,000 or ¥6,000 is out of its mind, and it has no class. The host mentioned "that egg with uni and caviar on it" — I really wish the local shops would get creative within the bounds of common sense and good taste.

  和牛串が5000円、6000円は正気の沙汰やないし、品がないです。「あの玉子にウニとかキャビアが...」とコタツはんも言うてはりましたが、地元のお店には常識・良識の範囲で工夫していただきたいと思います。👍

  — @freaks2511131 likes

• Those beef-skewer stalls — are they a chain, or run by the same backer…? Honestly, watching the place get invaded by that stuff is just sad.

  牛串の店は系列なのか胴元が同じなのか、、、 正直言ってああいうのに侵食されてるのは寂しいなぁ

  — @nyankichi150438 likes

• It's just not the old Nishiki Market anymore. As a local, it's a shame — a real shame. 😞

  もう昔の錦市場では無いですね 地元の者としては残念です残念😞

  — @palpapa0807139 likes

• I used to drop by Nishiki all the time. These past few years I've stopped going entirely. 😢 It's sad.

  ちょくちょく行ってた錦市場 ここ数年は全く行かなくなりました😢悲しいです

  — @犬種ぱぐ74 likes

• Nishiki is changing, but there are still plenty of shops stubbornly refusing to change the way they do things. I want those shops to hang in there — I want to support them!

  変わりつつある錦市場ですが中には頑なにやり方を変えず頑張っておられるお店たくさんあります。そういうお店には頑張って欲しいし応援したい！

  — @nao5055153 likes

• Sanjo-kai or Shinkyogoku are still the better bet, honestly. 💦 "Kyoto's Kitchen" has turned into a kitchen for foreigners.

  まだ三条会とか新京極の方が良いかな💦 京の台所が外国人への台所に変化

  — @珈琲豆-s4s81 likes

• SaveSanjo-kai Shopping Street↗三条会商店街Sanjo, west of downtown Kyoto

  Named by one commenter as the better bet over Nishiki (81 likes) — a covered arcade where the everyday shopping still happens.

• SaveShinkyogoku Shopping Street↗新京極商店街Downtown Kyoto, parallel to Teramachi

  The other arcade the same commenter names instead of Nishiki (81 likes).

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is Nishiki Market expensive?

Japanese commenters here call the prices out directly: a wagyu skewer "for ¥5,000 or ¥6,000 is out of its mind, and it has no class," and egg topped with uni and caviar gets named as the symbol of tourist pricing. Those are comment-time examples, so check current menus, but on the trend the thread is unanimous.

Where do Kyoto locals shop instead of Nishiki Market?

The instead named in this thread: the Sanjo-kai and Shinkyogoku shopping arcades — “still the better bet, honestly” (81 likes). Both are covered shopping streets where everyday Kyoto still outnumbers the tour groups.

Should I skip Nishiki Market entirely?

Not necessarily. One of the most-liked comments (153 likes) points out that plenty of old-guard shops stubbornly refuse to change how they work, and asks people to seek those out and support them — the thread's problem is with the ¥5,000-skewer newcomers, not the market itself.