Escape The Heat Of Summer In Japan While Fanning The Flames Of A New Love
Japan in July, August, and arguably parts of June and September, can experience brutally baking days. Forget swanning around in yukata, even being outside for more than a few minutes is uncomfortable. Not the ideal conditions for a romantic encounter with a potential true love you wish to become your life partner.
Rather than facing the heat with umbrellas and portable fans, you and your date take the plunge underground. Tunnelled below street level in Osaka, and to a lesser extent in Kyoto plus numerous other Japanese cities, are the “chika” basement areas filled with shops, cafes and, most importantly, chilled air. Perfect for a cool and comfortable dating experience.
Good for:
- Getting to know you dates
- A variety of choice in comfort
- Shopping, meandering, chilling
Quick points:
- Kyoto and Osaka locations
- Cafes, lunch, dinner, entertainment options
- Some walking involved
- Bilingual menus not always available
Porta, Kyoto
Meeting Spot
Porta, Kyoto’s West/East and Dining area spreads out from Kyoto JR station north towards Kyoto Tower. Exiting from JR station or the city bus stops, and descending into Porta via the West stairs, a nice place to meet could be beneath the glittering LED leaves of the “Kyoto Garden” tree.
Designed to change colours with the seasons and with benches for waiting, this is a beautiful landmark to meet.
Food Options
Porta Dining is a dedicated restaurant region, convenient when wandering between the variety of culinary offerings. Japanese predominates with tempura, soba, sushi and of course tonkatsu all on the menu. However, there are also some Italian, Korean and French restaurants for those hungering for more international options to flavour their date with.
Coffee/Afternoon tea
Sir Thomas LIPTON
Within a few steps of the shiny tree, this British styled cafe serves up some style along with its sugar. The wooden tables give it a classy vibe to dates and a menu of high quality teas complements classic cake favourites, special seasonal sweets or an afternoon tea set.
The Lipton tea cafe first opened in Kyoto in 1930, by Hyozo Fukunaga though it took another 30 years for the consumption of black tea to become widespread in Japan.
Summer fruits feature in the warmer months along with perennial favourites like chestnut Mont Blanc.
Impress your date with a seasonal Afternoon Tea set, perfect backdrop for sweet date pics.
Lunch or Dinner
Spaghetti Goemon
A perfect compromise between Western and Japanese tastes, Spaghetti Goemon has an impressive pasta menu. Classic comfort food favourites like tomato and garlic, or cheesy carbonara share space with Asian fusion inventions: octopus and zucchini, tofu skin and shrimp, and seaweed with plum. The ability to ‘half & half’ some popular plates means couples can sample multiple flavours of pasta together.
Impress your Japanese date by ordering the natto pasta.
Bar/Drinks
Craft Beer Market
Sip a Kyoto IPA and share some pickles or chips with your date.
The Craft Beer Market chain is casual. Wooden tables, barrels, a very wide menu of beer, and beer appropriate snacks: pizza and beer, cheese plate and beer, big sausage and beer. Wine is also available for those uninterested in artisanal hops. Those who do will appreciate the selection of thirty malty brews, many from the Kansai region, and which changes weekly. Connect in a low-stakes and friendly setting, getting to know your date better over a carbonated glass of craft.
Entertainment
The main amusement available when on a basement date, apart from food, is shopping. While most of the stores within Porta sell clothing, it also boasts two massively popular character outlets: Moomin and Sanrio. In addition, limited-time-only pop-up food stalls with samples, provide opportunities for conversation and discovery together. For those who prefer the standard “dinner and a movie” style date, Toho cinemas is only a short train ride away along JR to Nijo station.
Namba, Osaka
Connecting multiple train lines and subway stations, the Namba underground shopping district is far more sprawling and complex than Kyoto’s Porta is. Comprised of multiple sections including Namba City, Namba Nan-Nan, and Namba Walk, navigating the busy corridors can seem daunting. However, like a Sierra point-and-click adventure from the 90s, the Namba basement is full of intriguing items, weird landmarks, and side-quests to uncover for dating couples in Osaka.
Meeting Spot
Meet me by the whale.
Catch a quick “kinen shashin” with your date to remember the day
Food Options
Osaka is rightfully famous for its food, and the options within its underground shopping spaces are endless. For those looking for some early date cafe options that impress, followed by a fun afternoon of entertainment, here are some recommendations:
Coffee/Afternoon tea
Cafe Eikokuya
One of the aforementioned cafe chains with (at time of writing) five duplicates spread throughout the Namba basements.
With a chandelier and dark wood aesthetic, Cafe Eikokuya exudes a charming, up-market atmosphere perfect for a date. It also has a wide dessert menu ranging from waffles to chiffon cake, to the hot season favourite: kakigori.
Cascade French bakery
This very popular bakery within the hustling Namba Nan-Nan, has only six tables that can be shared. However, if queues are a sign of quality, there must be something special about the sweets and treats served here.
Scones, cakes and other cream filled delights, Cascade also offers reasonably priced lattes and other coffees to wash them down.
Matcha House
Maccha House has a clean, minimalist Japanese vibe and a summer menu full of all things delicious, cooling and green tea flavoured. Couples can share shaved ice with matcha, matcha flurries, and cold citrus udon with matcha ice-cream for dessert.
Entertainment
The long hallways offer endless apparel, knick knack, and 100 yen shops, perfect for sauntering and shopping. Leaning into the love language of presents, a romantic partner might pick up a fuzzy Totoro from the Ghibli outlet, or a bunch of roses from a flower shop. Alternatively, those with the skills might visit the Capcom Box. Packed with a huge variety of claw games, this is a very popular spot for couples. At any one time multiple boyfriends can be seen competing to capture a prize for their admiring partner here.
Dating in Japan during the hot summer months need not be a sweaty, uncomfortable affair for those on a quest to find true love. Escape into the basement worlds beneath the train stations, uncover their secrets, and enjoy the heat of new love with your potential soulmate in air conditioned comfort.