Date visited: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 — Sunny
I’m walking from Kibuneguchi Station toward Kifune Shrine.
👉 For the full story of this day’s journey, see this article.
▶🚉 Stopover Journey | Summer in Kibune — Walking from Kibuneguchi
Most people take the bus from the station.
I decided to walk.
A road along the river.
Lots of greenery.
It feels good.
Although there are places without a sidewalk.
Cars come by.
Buses too.
And as I walked beside them, there was something else on my mind.
What am I going to do about lunch?
I Didn’t Make a Restaurant Reservation
For this trip to Kibune and Kurama,
I didn’t make any restaurant reservations.
Where to eat.
What time to eat.
I came here without deciding much of anything.
That’s fun in its own way.
But there is one problem.
I might end up with nowhere to eat.
“There’ll probably be something a little farther ahead.”
You keep walking, thinking that—
and find nothing.
That happens when you travel.
I don’t really know how many restaurants there are farther ahead.
Whether I can get in without a reservation.
Or how much they cost.
I’m starting to feel a little uneasy.
The First Restaurant I Found
As I walked, I came across a place where I could eat.
Fujiya.
Fujiya was the first restaurant I came across in Kibune.
The reasonably priced Seseragi Set caught my eye, so I went in.
Using the kawadoko dining platform required an additional fee,
so this time I chose a seat beside the river instead.
I looked at the price.
This seems reasonable.
There might be more restaurants farther ahead.
But there might not be.
In that case—
I’d better eat here.
So I went into the first restaurant I found.
As I discovered later,
there were plenty of restaurants farther ahead.
But at this point,
I didn’t know that yet.
The Seseragi Set — ¥1,500
I ordered the:
Seseragi Set — ¥1,500.
Somen noodles and salt-grilled ayu sweetfish.
A very summery combination.
And when you think of Kibune,
you think of—
kawadoko.
You could eat on the kawadoko here as well.
The additional charge was:
¥550.
What should I do?
On the kawadoko,
the river flows beneath you.
Inside,
the river flows right in front of you.
…
This time,
right in front of me is good enough.
I decided to skip the kawadoko.
Pay First, Then Take a Seat
After entering Fujiya, you order and pay first.
This time, instead of going to the kawadoko,
I chose a seat right beside the river,
with views of the greenery and the Kibune River.
You order and pay first.
After paying, I went to find a seat.
No water was brought to the table, so I asked for some.
When the food is ready, they call you.
You pick it up yourself and take it to your table.
When you finish eating, you also return your dishes to the designated area yourself.
It’s a much more casual setup than I had expected.
Since I’m traveling alone, this works perfectly well for me.
Well then.
Let’s eat.
Ayu and Somen
I ordered the ¥1,500 Seseragi Set: chilled somen noodles and salt-grilled ayu.
I ate while looking out at the river.
I wasn’t sitting on the kawadoko,
but the Kibune River was flowing right beside me as I had lunch.
First, the somen.
Easy to eat after walking on a hot day.
Then, the salt-grilled ayu.
The flavors are light overall.
The ayu is quite good too.
But it isn’t a large meal.
If you want a substantial lunch, it may feel a little too light.
I’m planning to keep walking after this,
so this is probably enough for me.
More importantly—
I’ve secured my lunch.
Now I can relax.
At this point,
I still have no idea that I’m going to end up crossing Mount Kurama later today.
After Leaving the Restaurant…
I finished my meal
and started walking toward Kifune Shrine again.
Then—
another restaurant.
And another.
A kawadoko.
Another kawadoko.
And there are still more farther ahead.
What? There are even more?
I thought they would end after a short distance,
but they just keep going.
Apparently,
I started worrying about finding somewhere to eat much too early.
Ha ha ha.
Looking at the Prices
Since I’m here,
I take a look at the prices displayed outside the restaurants as I walk.
They’re quite expensive.
Some meals cost more than ¥10,000.
I see.
Sitting above the river and enjoying a leisurely meal.
That experience itself must be part of the pleasure of summer in Kibune.
Thinking about it that way,
the ¥1,500 Seseragi Set I just ate
was quite affordable.
Maybe I went into the first restaurant a little too soon.
But—
in the end, it wasn’t a bad choice.
Even Without Sitting on the Kawadoko
You’ve come all the way to Kibune,
so why not eat on a kawadoko?
Of course, I think that’s a good choice too.
It’s an experience unique to this place.
But this time,
I didn’t spend the extra ¥550 for the kawadoko.
The river beneath me.
Or the river in front of me.
For me, this time—
in front of me was enough.
I’ll spend that money somewhere else.
You don’t have to spend money on everything when you travel.
You can spend it on the things that make you think,
“This is where I want to spend it.”
I’m Glad I Ate Here
After this,
I head to Kifune Shrine,
then travel to Kurama.
And then—
I walk across Mount Kurama
and return to Kibune.
From there, I go back to Kurama again.
My step count for the day:
25,121 steps.
Mountain trails.
Stone steps.
Plenty of climbing and descending.
By the end, my legs were wobbling.
Looking back,
eating the ayu and somen here was definitely the right decision.
It wasn’t a luxurious lunch.
Nor was it the meal that became the star of the journey.
But sometimes, when you don’t know what lies ahead—
you eat at the first restaurant you find.
There are meals like that when you travel.
And that’s perfectly fine.
Thank you for the meal.
What I Had This Time
Fujiya
Seseragi Set — ¥1,500
Somen noodles and salt-grilled ayu
🍵 YUMEVOJA Food Radar
Kokon Fujiya — “Seseragi Set”
Sweetness: ★☆☆☆☆
Saltiness: ★★☆☆☆
Dashi Flavor: ★★★☆☆
Oiliness: ☆☆☆☆☆
Spiciness: ☆☆☆☆☆
Aroma: ★★☆☆☆
Portion size: Light
Ease of visiting: ★★★★☆
YUMEVOJA Rating
★★ ★☆☆Satisfied
Personal evaluation including the food, atmosphere, and people.
📍For the latest opening hours, holidays,
and other updates,
please check Google Maps and the official website.
Information may change without notice.
📍 Google Maps 👇
Kokon Fujiya — Google Maps
🌐 Official website 👇
Kokon Fujiya
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