Two long-established Kyoto shops will open together in Gion on Saturday, November 14, 2026. Kungyokudo (薫玉堂), an incense house founded 432 years ago, and Zeniya (ぜにや), a prayer bead specialty shop founded 152 years ago, will share a Kyoto machiya (traditional townhouse) built in the Taisho era, located at the foot of the stone steps of Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社).
Kungyokudo was founded in 1594 (Bunroku 3, in the Azuchi-Momoyama period) in front of Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto. Its direct descendants have made the scents used in rituals and daily life for 432 years, and it is Japan's oldest incense supplier. This Gion store is its 9th. Zeniya, a prayer bead specialty shop that shares its founding roots with Kungyokudo, will reopen on the second floor of the same building. Together, the two shops will convey the craftsmanship of the old capital's long-established makers.
The Gion Store
The Gion store stands right in front of Yasaka Shrine, one of Kyoto's best-known sightseeing spots. The design was entrusted to ABOUT 佛願忠洋. Although both shops are in the same machiya, each floor has a different character, creating a place that conveys inherited skills and a sense of beauty to visitors from around the world.
Kungyokudo and Zeniya have both continued to make items used in places of prayer while passing on their craftsmanship. At this store, they offer a specialty shop for scents and prayer beads that fit into modern daily life, with products for visitors from overseas and personal gifts that let people feel "authentic Japanese beauty."
First Floor: Kyoto Incense House Kungyokudo (薫玉堂)
The first-floor Kungyokudo space has been designed to stand out in white inside the machiya, proposing scents of modern daily life that carry on tradition. Its shop concept is "tailoring a scent that soothes the heart" (こころを癒す薫りを誂える). Visitors can choose their favorite incense sticks, or enjoy a blending experience in which they make their own scent sachets and incense sticks.
The shop offers fine scents created with carefully chosen ingredients, using blending recipe books (調香帳) handed down through generations and unique techniques backed by craftsmen's skills. The ingredients include rare fragrant woods that have matured over many years, as well as natural spices such as cassia bark and star anise, which are used in herbal medicine and cooking. The range proposes scents that let visitors feel the atmosphere of the old capital even today. Besides incense sticks and incense, it includes candles inspired by Kyoto, and hand creams and soaps that combine incense ingredients with plant extracts, so that people can enjoy scents in their daily lives.
Second Floor: Prayer Bead Specialty Shop Zeniya (ぜにや)
The second-floor Zeniya takes YEN (縁・円・艶) as its theme and keeps the charm unique to a Kyoto machiya. Visitors can enjoy the imposing view of Yasaka Shrine's West Gate (西楼門) while shopping in a "mise" (みせ) space called 見世座, where customers and staff chat as they choose original prayer beads (珠数) made with Kyoto's traditional crafts.
Zeniya continues to make original prayer beads that combine carefully selected materials from around the world with Kyoto's traditional dyeing and tassel making. The lineup is wide and playful, blending Japanese and Western styles. It ranges from authentic prayer beads that reflect the history of Kyoto prayer beads, to bracelet-style prayer beads and accessories for people who want to wear prayer beads every day.
Store Information
- Grand opening: Saturday, November 14, 2026
- Address: 295 Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0073
- Access:
- 1-minute walk from Gion bus stop (Kyoto City Bus), in front of Yasaka Shrine West Gate
- About 5-minute walk from Gion-Shijo Station on the Keihan Main Line
- 6-minute walk from Gion-Kawaramachi Station (祇園河原町駅) on the Hankyu Kyoto Line
- Business hours: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
- Closed: Wednesdays
- Store design: ABOUT 佛願忠洋
- Official websites: Kungyokudo https://www.kungyokudo.co.jp/ / Zeniya https://zeniya.jp/
First Floor: Kungyokudo Gion Store
- Phone: 075-746-2600
- Floor area: 8 tsubo
- Items handled: 40 original items and 30 sourced items
Second Floor: Zeniya Gion Store
- Phone: 075-532-0028
- Floor area: 9 tsubo
- Items handled: 60 original items and 20 sourced items
Preview Day on November 13
- Date and time: Friday, November 13, 2026, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- Open to: Media representatives and the general public
- What to expect: Staff will show visitors around the stores and serve tea and sweets (limited quantities)
- Reservation: Not required
Opening Novelties
Kungyokudo: Kaoru Shiori (薫る栞, scented bookmark)
Zeniya: tenugui (hand towel)
To celebrate the opening, novelty gifts are available while supplies last.
- Kungyokudo: Kaoru Shiori (薫る栞) with a purchase of ¥3,700 or more (tax included)
- Zeniya: Tenugui (手ぬぐい) with a purchase of ¥5,000 or more (tax included)
New and Limited Items and Workshop
Kungyokudo: Limited Incense "Gionmachi 295"
- Product name: Incense sticks "祗園町295" (Gionmachi 295)
- Price: ¥2,750 (tax included)
- Content and size: 20 g (outer box: 5.2 x 15.2 x 2 cm)
This incense has a cypress scent. It was inspired by the sight spreading out in front of the store during the Gion Festival, one of Japan's three great festivals, when a thousand mikoshi (portable shrine) bearers gather at the foot of the Yasaka stone steps on the evening of the procession.
Kungyokudo: Blending Experience (Reservation Required)
Participants can blend herbs and incense ingredients to their own recipe and make a scent sachet with their favorite fragrance. The schedule, how to make a reservation, and various notes will be announced on the official website.
- Scent sachet: ¥2,640 (tax included), about 30 minutes
- Incense sticks: ¥5,500 (tax included), about 90 minutes
Zeniya: Limited Item 1, Four Guardian Deities Silver Parts and Natural Stone Prayer Bead Bracelet
- Product: Four Guardian Deities (四神) silver parts and natural stone prayer bead bracelet
- Price: From ¥16,500 (tax included), varying by combination
- Size: Adjustable (silicone rubber cord)
This original prayer bead bracelet features the four guardian deities that govern the directions of Kyoto: Seiryu (青龍, Blue Dragon) in the east, Byakko (白虎, White Tiger) in the west, Suzaku (朱雀, Vermilion Bird) in the south, and Genbu (玄武, Black Tortoise) in the north. They are rendered in silver on natural stones and arranged in the four directions, with natural crystal forming a circle. The materials can be chosen from 500 types.
Zeniya: Limited Item 2, Karen Silver Handmade Accessories
- Product: Karen silver handmade accessories
- Price: Design ring ¥16,500 (tax included), among others
The Gion store carries original accessories such as rare silver bangle bracelets, rings, and chain bracelets made by the Karen people, a hill tribe of northern Thailand.
Zeniya: New Item, Color Stone MIX Design Accessories
- Product: Color stone MIX design accessories
- Price: Golden silver design ring with color stone MIX ¥44,000 (tax included), among others
The lineup includes prayer bead bracelets made with multicolor tourmaline, and handmade design rings in which popular color stones are set in designed silver rings.
