{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "name": "How to Get a Table at Kitcho Arashiyama, Kyoto (2026)",
  "headline": "How to Get a Table at Kitcho Arashiyama, Kyoto (2026)",
  "description": "Kitcho Arashiyama takes booking requests on TableCheck until noon Japan time seven days before, and confirms by email within 72 hours. Book before December 31, 2026 to keep this year's prices. Rules, prices and backups, checked October 29, 2026.",
  "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/kyoto-kitcho-arashiyama-reservation",
  "inLanguage": "en",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-29",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "@id": "https://gowithcarmen.com/about/adam-nathan#person",
    "name": "Adam Nathan",
    "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/about/adam-nathan"
  },
  "about": {
    "@type": "Place",
    "name": "Japan"
  },
  "answer": "Send a request on Kitcho Arashiyama's TableCheck page as soon as your Kyoto dates are fixed; the restaurant replies by email within 72 hours, and the table is yours only once you answer that email. The TableCheck page takes requests and changes until 12:00 Japan time seven days before the meal. After that, or for 11 people or more, you write to the restaurant at arashiyama@kyoto-kitcho.com. Both checked October 29, 2026.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "answer",
      "heading": "How do you get a reservation at Kitcho Arashiyama?",
      "text": "Send a request on Kitcho Arashiyama's TableCheck page as soon as your Kyoto dates are fixed; the restaurant replies by email within 72 hours, and the table is yours only once you answer that email. The TableCheck page takes requests and changes until 12:00 Japan time seven days before the meal. After that, or for 11 people or more, you write to the restaurant at arashiyama@kyoto-kitcho.com. Both checked October 29, 2026.\nKitcho does not publish a day when its calendar opens. Its own page says to book early, especially for April and for November to January, which are the cherry blossom and autumn leaf seasons in Arashiyama. For those months I'd send the request two to three months out. For the rest of the year, a month is usually comfortable.\nKitcho Arashiyama serves kaiseki, the Japanese seasonal multi-course meal, seated on tatami (floors of woven straw mats), in Arashiyama on the western edge of Kyoto."
    },
    {
      "id": "prices",
      "heading": "How much does Kitcho Arashiyama cost?",
      "text": "From October 1 to May 5 the kaiseki is ¥66,000 a person at lunch and ¥79,200 at dinner, service and tax included. Those are the prices on TableCheck on October 29, 2026, for the season Kitcho calls its special season: autumn leaves, the New Year and spring.\nChecked October 29, 2026, on TableCheck. Per person, service and tax included.\nCourse | October 1 to May 5 | May 6 to September 30\nLunch-only kaiseki | ¥66,000 | ¥52,800\nKaiseki, lunch or dinner | ¥79,200 | ¥66,000 or ¥79,200\nChef's omakase (the chef's choice) | From ¥125,000, and ¥129,360 from October to February, the season for matsutake mushrooms, crab and blowfish\nBook before December 31, 2026, if you can. Kitcho has announced new prices for Arashiyama from January 1, 2027, and says the change does not apply to reservations made before December 31, 2026. A request this autumn for a meal next spring keeps this year's price.\nTableCheck keeps your card for the cancellation fee but charges nothing at booking. You pay at the restaurant on the day."
    },
    {
      "id": "rules",
      "heading": "What are Kitcho's rules on cancellation, children and dress?",
      "text": "Cancelling costs 30% from five days before, 50% the day before and 100% on the day; the chef's omakase carries a ¥100,000 fee a person. These are on Kitcho's reservation policy and TableCheck, checked October 29, 2026. Kitcho says it makes exceptions for unavoidable circumstances. If it cannot reach you 30 minutes after your booked time, the table counts as cancelled.\n• Party size. Two or more. Single guests cannot book.\n• Children. No children under 6. From 6, a child counts as an adult in the party.\n• Dress. Smart casual: no shorts, sandals or sportswear, and no strong perfume or scented hair products, which interfere with the food.\n• Diet. List every allergy and dislike for everyone at the table in the request. Kitcho tries to work with vegetarian, vegan, halal and kosher needs, but says it cannot always manage it, and day-of requests may not be possible.\n• Seating. Tatami with a low, legless chair. Tables and chairs can be requested.\n• Language. Staff speak Japanese and English on the day.\n• Not through AutoReserve. Kitcho does not accept bookings made on that site."
    },
    {
      "id": "closed",
      "heading": "When is Kitcho Arashiyama closed?",
      "text": "Every Wednesday, and from December 20 to 31 and January 4 to 10 for the New Year. That is the restaurant's page, checked October 29, 2026. Lunch seats from 11:30 to 12:30; dinner from 17:00 to 18:30.\nFor a Christmas trip to Kyoto, Kitcho is closed, so plan the meal for before December 20. The page lists January 1 to 3 as open, which suits a traveler who wants a New Year kaiseki."
    },
    {
      "id": "lunch",
      "heading": "Should you book lunch or dinner?",
      "text": "Book lunch: it costs less, and the trip out to Arashiyama is far easier by day. From October to May the lunch-only kaiseki is ¥13,200 less a person than the dinner course. Arashiyama is also a long way from central Kyoto at night, about 40 minutes by taxi from Kyoto Station, while at lunch Arashiyama station on the Randen, the small tram line from central Kyoto, is a six-minute walk.\nKitcho itself recommends public transport in April and November, when traffic into Arashiyama is heavy. Give your booking name to the gatekeeper when you arrive."
    },
    {
      "id": "full",
      "heading": "What if Kitcho Arashiyama is full for your dates?",
      "text": "Ask Kitcho for other times in the same email thread, then try its sister restaurants.\n• Offer more times. Because the request is answered by a person, give two or three dates and both lunch and dinner in the first request. That gives the restaurant something to say yes to.\n• HANA Kitcho. Kitcho's other Kyoto restaurant books on its own TableCheck page, with the same cancellation scale. It is closed on Wednesdays and on Sunday and Tuesday evenings.\n• A hotel concierge. For a Kyoto hotel guest, a concierge can write or call in Japanese and handle a change after the online window closes a week out.\n• Tokyo instead. If the trip has a few days in Tokyo, a sushi counter there with a published release date may be easier to plan around. The Tokyo omakase booking guide lists them."
    },
    {
      "id": "plan",
      "heading": "Where does Kitcho fit in a Kyoto trip?",
      "text": "Make it the meal on your Arashiyama day: the bamboo grove and Tenryu-ji temple in the early morning, lunch at Kitcho, and back to the center by mid-afternoon. In November the morning crowds are the reason to start early.\nThe three-day Kyoto itinerary has an Arashiyama day this fits into, and the where to stay in Kyoto guide picks a base. For autumn dates, the Kyoto in late November guide times the leaves, and the Kyoto in December guide covers the New Year closures."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "The TableCheck page",
      "url": "https://www.tablecheck.com/en/shops/kyoto-kitcho-arashiyama/reserve"
    },
    {
      "label": "Its own page",
      "url": "https://kyoto-kitcho.com/en/restaurant/arashiyama/"
    },
    {
      "label": "announced new prices for Arashiyama from January 1, 2027",
      "url": "https://kyoto-kitcho.com/en-info/?p=271"
    },
    {
      "label": "Kitcho's reservation policy",
      "url": "https://kyoto-kitcho.com/en/reservation_policy/"
    },
    {
      "label": "its own TableCheck page",
      "url": "https://www.tablecheck.com/en/shops/kyoto-kitcho-hana/reserve"
    },
    {
      "label": "Tokyo omakase booking guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/tokyo-omakase-booking"
    },
    {
      "label": "three-day Kyoto itinerary",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/kyoto-3-days"
    },
    {
      "label": "where to stay in Kyoto guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/kyoto-where-to-stay"
    },
    {
      "label": "Kyoto in late November guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/kyoto-late-november"
    },
    {
      "label": "Kyoto in December guide",
      "url": "https://gowithcarmen.com/trips/kyoto-december"
    }
  ],
  "citation": [
    "https://www.tablecheck.com/en/shops/kyoto-kitcho-arashiyama/reserve",
    "https://kyoto-kitcho.com/en/restaurant/arashiyama/",
    "https://kyoto-kitcho.com/en-info/?p=271",
    "https://kyoto-kitcho.com/en/reservation_policy/",
    "https://www.tablecheck.com/en/shops/kyoto-kitcho-hana/reserve"
  ],
  "editorialMethod": "https://gowithcarmen.com/about"
}