Kyoto Station Building, reflecting Kyoto Tower off its mirrored surface. The building has a grand presence and amazes visitors from everywhere!

The building itself was constructed in 1997 and was designed by Hiroshi Hara. He also worked on many innovative modern structures such as the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka and Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido.

The station concourse is spacious, where lines and curves, geometric patterns, and abstract objects are intermingled, creating a mysterious space. Hotel Granvia Kyoto is connected to the east side of the station building and JR Kyoto Isetan is connected to the west side. Between the two buildings is a large open area with a ceiling and glass wall, there is also the aerial Skyway Tunnel passageway some 45 meters above ground that connects the east and west structures.

In the Kyoto Station Building there are many facilities with plenty of things to do to spend your whole day here.

From the Central Exit take the escalator towards the Grand Stairway. The second floor is our first destination: Mister Donut with an open café style. Since Kyoto is a busy tourist location from early in the morning, the café is open from 7:30 AM for Kyoto Station Building users.

I recommend the counter seat looking down at the concourse. You can feel a strange exotic feeling in the ancient city seeing many international people while enjoying your coffee and sweets. It's one of my favorite things to do at Kyoto Station, as I can relax a little while planning my trip around Kyoto.

Covering a large area, the station building has many locations offering a superb view. Oddly enough, this remains something of a secret! Getting up top for a great view of the historical city is one of the best things to do at Kyoto Station.

The first spot is Minami Yuhodo. After exiting the West Exit head right and up the stairs to the third floor. This is a hidden space where even most local people don’t know and from here you can see the Shinkansen bullet trains depart. Other than the Shinkansen that arrive every 5 to 10 minutes, you can see JR trains coming in and out. The area is spacious and receives a lot of sunlight, so it is a perfect place to relax.

Next is Karasumakoji Hiroba on the Hotel Granvia side, the 4th floor. This is one of the few spots allowing a perfect view of Kyoto Tower and I think it is probably the best public location around. This area doesn’t have much traffic and you can take your time to find the best photo angle.

The final spot is the Skyway Tunnel. Go up the escalator at the East Square on the Hotel Granvia side and it leads to the JR Isetan 10th floor.

This is one of the few spots in Kyoto that you can see the entirety of Gozan no Okuribi (commonly known as Daimonji Festival, with five large bonfires lit along on mountains during Obon season). On the explanation board, it shows you which direction the bonfires are at.

Unfortunately, general admission is not allowed during the festival and only people who have been selected can enjoy the view at the time.

Kyoto Ramen Street (Kyoto Ramen Koji) is located on the 10th floor of the station building on the south side with the Grand Stairway. Many popular ramen shops from all over Japan – even Hokkaido and Kyushu - are on this floor. Of all the things to do at Kyoto Station, be sure not to miss sampling local Kyoto ramen!

We will talk about Masutani, a ramen shop that represents Kyoto. Masutani is a long standing shop that was established in 1948, the main shop is located near Ginkaku-ji Temple (Jisho-ji) along Shirakawa Sosui canal.

The chicken broth-based soup with pork fat and shoyu is the original flavor for Kyoto ramen. The strong shoyu flavor and the slight sweetness of the pork fat and the tingling of the red chili pepper. The soup is rich but not heavy, which is very Kyoto like. By adding the onsen tamago, it mixes with the soup and noodles and becomes more delicious!

For people with a busy schedule and missed their opportunity to eat Kyoto ramen, this is the perfect place to get your fix.

Located on the 9th floor of Kyoto Station Building Grand Stairway South Side is KATO Kyoto Station Store. It is a direct sales outlet for KATO, a railway model maker that represents Japan. Here they have many models on display and for sale.

This is the model of the steam locomotive exhibition that is in Kyoto Railway Museum. It replicated the semicircular garage with the D51 steam engine and others.

By the window side looking down on JR Kyoto Station, there is a moving railway model. If you press the button the trains move back and forth. The train in the photo is the rapid train for Tokaido Line. You can really appreciate the detail of the models by looking at the real trains.

Here are the top three train models that are sold. From the left is the 500 Series Shinkansen (3,240 yen tax included) and the middle is the 485 Series Express (3,996 yen tax included), which is exhibited on the main space at Kyoto Railway Museum. To the right is the Thunderbird (3,240 yen tax included), which is an express train that heads to the Hokuriku region from Osaka and Kyoto Station. All of these trains are related to Kyoto and make great souvenirs.

If you would like to try Kyoto style sweets, head to Nakamura Tokichi Kyoto Station Store established in 1854, a tea shop that represents Uji Kyoto. After exiting the West Exit, enter JR Kyoto Isetan and head to Restaurant Street on the 3rd floor.

The recommended dish is the Namacha Jelly (matcha flavor) (1,051 yen tax included). The brilliantly textured jelly has a strong matcha aroma and an elegant flavor. It matches shiratama (rice flour dumplings) and matcha ice cream. Stop by to experience a different type of Kyoto sweets.

You could say that the Grand Stairway with 171 steps is the symbol of Kyoto Station Building. Take the escalator on the west side after exiting the Central Exit and the Grand Stairway on the 4th floor in front of the Muromachi-koji Square. This large space has about 15,000 LED installed to beautifully illuminate the area using different designs representing the four seasons of Kyoto.

For each season they have different themes for the illuminations and you can see what will be on display on their homepage. The illumination time will also change depending on the season: in winter it will start from 3:00 PM, in spring at 4:00 PM and at 5:00 PM in the summer.

This is one of the major photogenic spots around Kyoto Station Building and don’t forget to share the awesome photo you took!

Sky Dining & Lounge Southern Court on the top floor of Hotel Granvia Kyoto (15th floor), is one of the few places in Kyoto – a city known in Japan for having building height restrictions – where you can enjoy the night view. Here, counter seats face the large window which provides a night view of Kyoto’s south side all the way towards Osaka.

This facility has a full bar and also servers 500 yen a la carte dishes and draft beer (glass). As a resident of Kyoto, this place (and its budget-perfect prices) makes me want to return frequently.

The bar offers various drinks like the standard beer, wine and whiskey, but I strongly recommend the seasonal original cocktails. Make sure to try these original cocktails if you stop by.

The last entry is viewing Kyoto Tower from the front after exiting Kyoto Station Central Exit. The tower has an impressive red and white contrast with beautiful curves. The view during the daytime is nice but at night the spectacle of the illuminated tower is something special.

If you look back near the city bus boarding area heading towards Kyoto Tower from the station, you can see a clear reflection of the tower on the station building.


We hope you enjoyed our guide of Kyoto Station Building with many hidden spots that even many locals don’t know about.

Nowadays there are even stores where you can rent kimono and yukata – you can certainly add to your Kyoto experience in that way as well!

If you have time between trains or are looking for something different to do, you could add a few hours of quality time just by exploring the station building and discovering your own favorite spot.

Text by:Myogaya Nobuhisa