“Nishiki Market Has Become a Place for Foreigners”: What Japanese Visitors Really Say About Kyoto's Kitchen
Short answerJapanese visitors say skip
Is Nishiki Market a tourist trap? The top comment (20,198 likes) isn't about food: Japanese visitors hate the idea that any quality will do for tourists.
20,198 likes on the most-liked comment1,354-comment thread · 2024 video
「錦市場は外国人向けに成り下がった」京都の地元民の本音
By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan
This is a Kyoto food-walk review with 3.5 million views, but scroll into the comments and the loudest voices aren't rating the snacks. They are Japanese viewers, and they are basically on your side. The most-liked comment of all (20,198 likes) isn't about food: it seconds the host's line, "I hate the stance that any quality is good enough as long as the customer's a foreigner." Right behind it, a commenter who says they live there writes that Nishiki "has degenerated into shops aimed at foreigners" and is so crowded they can't really recommend it (9,388 likes). It isn't visitors they are annoyed at; it's the shops charging tourists too much for too little. Here's what the thread actually says, and the place one commenter would send you instead.
“Speaking as a local, Nishiki Market has degenerated into shops aimed at foreigners, and it's so crowded I can't really recommend it.”
地元民からすると錦市場は外国人向けのお店に成り下がったし、人混みすぎてあまりおすすめはできません
Where Japanese visitors go instead
It's a bit of a train ride, but the Fushimi sake district is a lovely spot.
ちょっと電車乗るけど伏見の酒処はいいですよ
— @sekai444295 likes
Places named in this article
- Fushimi Sake DistrictFushimi, south Kyoto
The one alternative named in these comments: “It's a bit of a train ride, but the Fushimi sake district is a lovely spot” (295 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.
FAQ
- Is Nishiki Market worth visiting?
- For eating, this thread says no. The most-liked warning (9,388 likes) comes from a commenter who says they live there: Nishiki "has degenerated into shops aimed at foreigners," and it's so crowded they can't really recommend it. If you still go, the complaints here suggest treating it as a quick walk-through rather than a meal stop.
- Why do Kyoto locals avoid Nishiki Market?
- Three reasons keep repeating in the comments: the crowds, shops that now target tourists rather than the neighborhood, and overpriced food — "call it 'attracting inbound tourists' if you want, but it's just a ripoff." Notably, the anger is aimed at the shops, not at visitors.
- Where do locals go instead of Nishiki Market?
- The Fushimi sake district, a short train ride south (295 likes) — the one place anyone here recommends instead. A separate caution: avoid raw seafood in central Kyoto generally, because the city is far from the sea.
Japanese people also answered
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What Japanese visitors said (excerpted from 1,354 comments)
That line at the end — “I hate the stance that any quality is good enough as long as the customer's a foreigner” — I really feel that. I hate it too.
最後の「海外の人ならどんな品質で出しても良いだろうっていうスタンスが嫌い」って言うところ、本当に分かる私も嫌い
“A taste that really tells you you're on a trip.” God, that is so relatable.
「旅行に来たなぁって味」 わかり味が凄い
I'm a local myself, and I had no idea it had turned into nothing but tourist-facing shops.
地元民ですがこんな観光客向けの店ばかりになっていたんですね。
The point isn't whether I'd go or not — of course I wouldn't. It's that serving foreigners who came all the way to Japan overpriced, half-baked food just because they can't judge the taste or the price is incredibly rude.
問題は自分が行くか行かないかではなくない？そりゃ自分は行かないよ… せっかく日本に旅行しにきてくれてる外国人に、味も値段もわからないからといってテキトーなもの高価で出すってめちゃくちゃ失礼
You could just write it off as “it's for foreigners,” but yeah — more and more places have slipped on quality and, honestly, on price too.
外国人向けって言われたらそれまでやけど質はもちろん値段もアレなところ増えたよなぁ
Exactly. Call it “attracting inbound tourists” if you want, but it's just a ripoff.
ほんそれ インバウンド集客っていうかただのぼったくりなんよ
For what it's worth, central Kyoto is far from the sea, so I wouldn't recommend eating raw seafood here in the first place…
そもそも京都の市内側は海から遠いので生の海鮮を食べるのはお勧めできません…