A few photos taken while strolling past local shops and street-food vendors at Mino Waterfall in Osaka and in the Fushimi and Higashiyama districts of Kyoto, with still others taken while visiting two of Kyoto's most notable marketplaces: the Shinkyogoku shopping district and Nishiki Market, both in the heart of downtown.

Shinkyogoku is noted for its restaurants and cafés, fashionable clothing shops, and specialty stores featuring everything from abacuses to jewelry, tabis and other footwear, cosmetics, handbags, luggage, cutlery, and more—much of it sold tax free.

Nishiki Market is a five-block-long, pedestrian-only, jam-packed alleyway with more than a hundred shops, stalls, and mini-restaurants, offering, among other merchandise, fresh and dried seafood and a wide selection of fresh local produce. Its origins date all the way back to the early 14th century, prior to which the area was the center of a fish wholesale district.

Street Scenes and Markets

Japanese persimmons at Mino Waterfall, Osaka
Pomegranates and oranges, Mino Waterfall
More fruit, and tomatoes, for sale at Mino Waterfall, Osaka
Just a short way down the hill on which the Fushimi Inari Shrine is located, streetside vendors sell a variety of food to passersby. This man was selling toasted dumplings.
Fushimi mochi seller: rice cakes with strawberries
Skewered rice cakes for sale along the way to Fushimi-Inari shrine
Grilled chicken on a stick offered by another Fushimi-Inari vendor
Flowers outside a little restaurant on the way to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto
Café banner, Fushimi district, Kyoto
Higashiyama street scene, Kyoto
At the train station at Arashiyama, western Kyoto, kimono fabrics have been placed within tall, illuminated tubes, making for a very colorful display.
Arashiyama, Kyoto
Arashiyama, Kyoto
Lest one were to get the impression that Kyoto is all just quaintly reminiscent of the past . . . it is, of course, a bustling modern city.
A nice floral touch—one of several—along a busy Kyoto thoroughfare. We also noted the presence of many bicycle riders in the city.
Entering the Shinkyogoku shopping district in downtown Kyoto
Within the Shinkyogoku market area is this Shinto shrine.
Inside the Shinto shrine
Water for self-purification within the Shinto shrine
Back along the main strip of Shinkyogoku. Note the 'Fashion Leg Shop' on the right (not yet open, rather early in the morning).
Taking a right-angle turn away from Shinkyogoku Market, we enter another marketplace in downtown Kyoto: Nishiki.
All of the remaining photos in this gallery are from Nishiki Market. Nishiki's main wares are a variety of foods, both fresh and dried.
But foods are not the only items for sale at Nishiki.
Heading back along Nishiki's crowded passageway, where moving about through the crowds can be a bit challenging at times!

jim wageman | photos i am

Street Scenes and Markets