Best Cooking Classes in Kyoto

Kyoto is a great place to take a Japanese cooking class: It’s filled with traditional markets, including the famous Nishiki Market, and there are several good cooking schools. Here are our three favorite cooking classes in Kyoto.

Ingredients on a table as hands prepare sushi in a cooking class

Roll sushi cooking class in Japan – image © aleks333 / Shutterstock.com

Donburi Cooking Course and Nishiki Market Private Tour

This is our favorite cooking class in Kyoto for three reasons: It includes a tour of Nishiki Market (Kyoto’s best traditional food market), you’ll learn how to make a dish that you can easily make back home, and it’s fully private.

Customers look at a food stall decorated with Japanese lanterns and banners in Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market – image © marcobrivio.photography / Shutterstock.com

Before the class the guide will escort you to Nishiki Market, where you can buy the ingredients for the class. You’ll then return to the cooking school and you’ll learn how to prepare a donburi, which is a rice bowl topped by ingredients like meat, fish, eggs or vegetables.

This is Japanese comfort food and it’s something you can make back home with ingredients available at most supermarkets. It’s a dish that you can tailor to almost anyone: vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free people and carnivores. You can book this class via Klook.

Top Activities In Kyoto

A woman in Japanese kimono and makeup poses with a parasol in a traditional Kyoto street, looking directly into the camera

Kimono Rental
In KyotoRent a kimono and
hire a photographer
for the afternoonMore Info

Head priest Miyazaki-san, wearing robes, talks with a visitor in the intricately-decorated main hall of the zen Kosei-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan

Kosei-ji Temple
Zen MeditationExperience zazen
(seated Zen meditation)
at a Kyoto templeMore Info

A kneeling woman in traditional Japanese outfit raises a cup during a Kyoto tea ceremony

Kyoto Tea
CeremonyThe home of the tea
ceremony remains the
best place to try itMore Info

Red torils donated by Kansai Television flank the pathway through Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, Japan

Fushimi-Inari
HikeHike to the summit
of Mount Inari-san and
visit the shrinesMore Info

Kyoto Pub Food Making Workshop

You’ve probably heard of an izakaya. These are casual Japanese restaurants that serve a variety of traditional dishes to accompany beer and sake. In this class, you’ll learn several classic izakaya dishes including fried chicken with salted plums and shiso leaf, and pumpkin soup with white miso.

Customers sit around the counter eating and drinking in one of the izakayas in Shinjuku district in Tokyo, Japan

Japanese izakaya – image © fornStudio / Shutterstock.com

The dishes can be adapted for vegetarians and the teacher can tell you options to replace ingredients that you cannot find back home. For those looking to learn several dishes and Japanese cooking techniques at one go, this is a great group class. This class is also bookable via Klook.

Kyoto Bento Making Workshop

We like this group class because you’ll learn a wide variety of Japanese dishes, including sushi, tempura and teriyaki, and you’ll learn how to put them together into an attractive set meal, or bento.

A Japanese bento box with rice, egg, sushi and other Japanese dishes

Because it’s a group class, it’s a great way to meet other travelers, and the price is much lower than a private lesson. Most of the dishes in this class can serve as stand-alone meals and you can prepare them with ingredients available at good supermarkets back home. Your friends and family will appreciate the results of your cooking studies in Kyoto! You can book this class via Klook.

Kyoto Vacation Checklist

ESSENTIALS – For all the essentials in a brief overview, see my First Time In Kyoto guide
HOTELS – Check Kyoto accommodation availability on Booking.com and Agoda.com - often you can book with no upfront payment and free cancellation
BULLET TRAIN – You can buy shinkansen (bullet train) tickets online from Klook - popular routes include Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Osaka and Kyoto to Tokyo
WHERE TO STAY – Need tips on where to stay? See my one page guide Where To Stay In Kyoto
PACKING LIST – See my comprehensive Packing List For Japan
SIM CARDS – You can buy an eSim to activate in Japan or buy a data-only SIM card online for collection when you arrive at Tokyo's Narita or Haneda Airports or Kansai International Airport. You can also rent an unlimited data pocket wifi router
FLIGHTS – Compare Japan flight prices and timings to find the best deals
JAPAN RAIL PASS – If you're making frequent train journeys during your visit, you might save money with Japan Rail Pass – see if it's worth it for you
TRAVEL INSURANCE – World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while traveling and claim online from anywhere in the world
WANT HELP? – Do you want help planning your trip? Chris Rowthorn and his team of Japan experts at Japan Travel Consulting can help

Kyoto District Map

Click a Kyoto District for detailed info on attractions, places to eat and accommodation

About InsideKyoto.com and Chris Rowthorn

Chris Rowthorn is the co-founder of InsideKyoto.com and has an unparalleled travel knowledge of Kyoto spanning three decades. Chris has written or commissioned and edited every page on the Inside Kyoto website.
A former author of Lonely Planet Kyoto and Lonely Planet Japan guidebooks, Chris is also the director of the Kyoto walking tour company Chris Rowthorn Tours, and Japan Travel Consulting, where you can get bespoke travel advice for your Japan trip.
InsideKyoto.com has been cited by the New York Times and The Times of London, among many other publications and websites.