Japan Center
Cool and curious trinkets, noodle houses and sushi joints, a destination bookstore, and a peek at Japanese culture high and low await at this 5-acre complex designed in 1968 by noted American architect Minoru Yamasaki. The Japan Center includes the shop- and restaurant-filled Kintetsu Mall and Kinokuniya Building; the excellent Kabuki Springs & Spa; the Hotel Kabuki; and the AMC Kabuki cinema.
The Kinokuniya Bookstore, in the Kinokuniya Building, has an extensive selection of Japanese-language books, manga, English-language translations, books on Japanese topics, and fun gifts. Afterwards, enjoy a crepe with green tea gelato, red bean paste, and matcha from Sophie's Crepes. Just outside, on the bridge connecting the buildings, check out Asakichi and its tiny incense shop for wind chimes and teakettles. Continue into the Kintetsu Mall for a taiyaki (fish-shape) cone at Uji Time.
Between the West Mall and the East Mall are the five-tier, 100-foot-tall Peace Pagoda and the Peace Plaza, where seasonal festivals are held. The pagoda, which draws on the 1,200-year-old tradition of miniature round pagodas dedicated to eternal peace, was designed in the late 1960s by Yoshirō Taniguchi to convey the "friendship and goodwill" of the Japanese people to the people of the United States.
