The Miffy Sakura Kitchen is a shop and bakery in Arashiyama, near Kyoto, a town that’s fast becoming a must-visit destination for kawaii food in Japan. It’s even just up the road from the Rilakkuma cafe so you can easily do both. As we’re half-Dutch and grew up with Miffy/Nijntje we had to visit on our 2018 trip to Japan – read on to find out what it was like!
Unlike most character cafes, this isn’t a seated restaurant, but has lots of cute treats to take away. That makes it a really flexible option – you could buy a few things for a picnic lunch, get a quick snack or pick up something to eat later.
The freshly-baked goods include sweet and savoury pastries, filled sandwiches and even Miffy-shaped loaves of bread!
They’re all super cute but with traditional flavours and shapes, rather than any weird and wacky stuff. Have a look at the menu on their website.
We were full from our meal at the Rilakkuma cafe and had dinner plans back in Osaka so we didn’t actually try any of the baked goods. The ice cream cone and orange juice were just what we needed for a break though. With hindsight, we should have picked up a few things for later since our visit to the Gudetama Cafe didn’t work out so well.
The attached shop is a dream for any Miffy fan as it’s full of things you won’t easily find anywhere else including traditional Japanese goods and materials like chopsticks, tea kettles, laquerware and bamboo. Have a look here.
The main focus is kitchenware and we especially loved all the ceramics. I brought home a little cup that I’ve been using for coffee and green tea.
There’s also plenty souvenirs and exclusive items including sakura cherry blossom themes and lots of food items. Of course, you’ll also find plush, stationery and clothing too.
Information
The Miffy Sakura Kitchen is a permanent shop/cafe and open 7 days a week. It’s in Arashiyama – the easiest way to get there is to take the train from Kyoto station to Sagaarashiyama on the JR Sagano Line. Then it’s a short walk to the main shopping street on the way to the Togetsukyo bridge.. You can see a map here and here’s my 2016 guide to Arashiyama for more things to do.
If you can’t make it to Arashiyama, there’s a Miffy Shop at Character Street inside JR Tokyo station, which has some foodie souvenirs like cookies and tea, and there’s a Miffy area in the Kiddyland stores in Tokyo and Osaka.
Marceline is the co-founder and editor of Super Cute Kawaii and the author of The Super Cute Book of Kawaii. She lives by the seaside in Scotland in a flat full of kawaii, creating cute character goods as Asking For Trouble, working on endless craft projects and playing Nintendo.
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