Join Aki for a hands-on cooking experience in her beautiful kitchen in Kyoto where you will discover how to make dishes that may not be served in restaurants as well as secret tips for familiar classics like miso soup. She will provide you with recipes in English and then guide you through the cooking process. Learn about Japanese food and culture as you cook with Aki. The cooking portion of your experience should last about an hour before you enjoy the meal you helped prepare together.
Explore with Aki the local neighborhood street market called Demachiyanagi Shoutengai and discover everything from basic Japanese foods ingredients to high-quality, regional produce. You will spend about 45 minutes walking through the market together and picking out a few vegetables and ingredients that you will later use in your authentic Japanese cooking class in Kyoto with Aki in her home kitchen. You will take the bus from the market to Aki's home for your cooking class. It takes about 10 min, her home is 4 bus stops away from the market.
Your Kyoto dining experience with Aki will begin with a warm welcome into her home. Sip on a cup of refreshing cold or hot tea depending on the season, that is sourced locally in Kyoto. You will then sit down around the dining table and enjoy a meal cooked with fresh and unique seasonal vegetables and local ingredients. Your home-style Japanese meal may include dishes such as the traditional chikuzenni (a main dish of braised chicken and vegetables that originated from Kyushu), seasonal vegetable sides such as marinated spinach with sesame or burdock root, and miso soup. You will conclude your meal with a glass of tea.
Aki's minimum group size is four. However, she is happy to host groups of two or three travelers who are willing to pay the price for a group of four travelers.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Chikuzenni (a main dish of braised chicken and vegetables that originated from Kyushu)Miso soupSeasonal vegetable sides such as marinated spinach with sesame or burdock rootA glass of teaAki's love for cooking began as a young girl watching and helping her mother in the kitchen put together meals for the family. She especially enjoyed learning the recipes that her mother inherited from her grandmother that had been passed down through many generations in her family. Cooking is her deepest passion and the feeling of happiness she gets when sitting down and eating good food with loved ones is one she always craves. Aki is a shining example of Japanese hospitality. She embraces omotenashi, a deeply caring and attentive sense of hospitality that you will immediately experience when you meet her in the peaceful atmosphere of her home and notice in the attention to detail in her cooking. An avid traveler, Aki spent many years on the island of Okinawa and in East Asia where she learned the art of textiles and colors from local craftspeople.
She is eager to share the beautiful culture of her own country with travelers to make them fall in love with Japanese food and hospitality.
"This wound up being one of the most memorable activities of our trip. Aki was a fantastic host, cook, and guide. She took us through the local market, explaining all of the produce and products, and buying items we were curious about to include in the meal. She then led us through cooking the dishes in her home, explaining the process throughout. The food was delicious and we can't wait to make the recipes again when we get home. Even our teenagers had an unabashedly good time. Most of all, Aki was kind and delightful, and we all just really enjoyed her company. If we're fortunate enough to be in Kyoto again we'll definitely book another class with her."
"Aki’s home cooking class was a fantastic experience, probably the best one we had in all of our Japan trip. We got to learn more about Japanese culture and food than reading/ watching anything else. I also loved that she picked dishes that were not too complicated so we can go back home and actually make them. My whole family including my 11 year old could be thoroughly participate and enjoy!! A must try for all of you visiting Kyoto."
"Our cooking class with Aki was a total delight and one of our favorite moments in our trip. We were already into of Japanese food and cooking and found the class very informative and the food absolutely delicious. Aki speaks excellent English and it felt like an honor for her to share her home and cooking techniques. We’ve learned a bunch of dishes that we will make it home. She is very kind and fun, never tired of our endless questions and gave us 1 million tips. We cannot recommend this experience high enough."
"We are a family of 4 including 2 teenagers and were lucky enough to spend 2.5 weeks in Japan at the beginning of April 2025.
We chose this experience as we all love food, are very interested in Japanese food and wanted something different from the Sushi or bento lessons offered elsewhere.
We met Aki at the Kyoto market and immediately felt very relaxed with her, our Japanese is limited to greetings and simple phrases but this wasn't a problem as Aki's English is excellent.
We loved seeing some of the more traditional food preparations at the market - especially the gentleman producing the Bonito flakes that we later used in the meal. It was also nice venturing away from the Family Mart style convenience stores and street food with a knowledgable guide.
Once all the ingredients had been purchased we made our way to Aki's home, a beautiful, light-filled family home.
The cooking was really interesting and fun, we picked up all kinds of cooking tips. I was really pleased to see how to make dashi from scratch and tips on perfecting Japanese rice.
We all helped to cook 4 dishes with rice and miso soup - with some of the more mundane prep done for us to allow the dishes to be made in time.
The food was absolutely delicious and exciting, we have since cooked some of the dishes at home although getting beef of that quality is not going to be easy :)
It was a really special treat being able to spend time with Aki in her lovely home. It was something we will never forget and a fantastic thing to do for our daughter's 17th birthday.
Thanks so much Aki. If it is possible to get any more of your recipe sheets - we would love to try more of your food.
Lucy, Corin, Mia and Tess"
