Located just outside of Nagano’s historic heart of the ancient Zenko-ji Temple, Patio Daimon is an open-air, stone terrace that allows visitors peruse several shops and curios, as well as experience some of the finest and varied cuisine that Nagano City has to offer — All while basking in the charming atmosphere of well-preserved Meiji and Taisho era buildings that harken back to Japan’s skyline of old.

ENJOY SHOPPING AND EATING IN BEAUTIFULLY RENOVATED JAPANESE-STYLE WAREHOUSES

Having humble beginnings in the 19th and 20th centuries, many of the storefronts within Patio Daimon were former day-to-day businesses of their respective eras such as print shops, tabacco and sandal suppliers, gardens, and tea-houses. In modern times, many of these businesses went defunct and their buildings abandoned. Spurred by talk of demolition of this area of the Monzen district, the lot was purchased wholesale in 2001 with the desire to preserve its nostalgic architecture, as well as breathe new life into the district with the invitation of local restaurants and business.

MODERN & TRADITIONAL DINING AND SHOPS BETWEEN NAGANO STATION AND ZENKO-JI TEMPLE

Situated only a few minutes walk from the Zenko-ji Temple precinct and ten minutes form Nagano Station, Patio Daimon offers a mix of dining and shops that are both modern and traditional. From modern Japanese-Western fusion to a traditional tea house, a stationary shop to traditional Japanese set meal, you can experience the breadth of the Japan of today and the past.

EXPLORE THE AREA FREELY

Walk around and see the peaceful and idyllic traditional city setting. There are also shopkeepers who are open and will try their best to communicate in English.

RESTARAUNTS / SHOPS OF PATIO DAIMON

From high-class Italian-Spanish fusion to local delicacies like soba and oyaki; from wedding dresses, designer clothes, and local art to an American-style tavern bar and much more; the external atmosphere will make you feel like you have been transported back several hundred years, and breadth of options in Patio Daimon will make your stroll through these alley streets well worth it, providing an experience that should not be missed during one’s visit to Nagano City!

Japanese Cuisine Shunka

Shunka entices guests with the refined aesthetic of the restaurant itself and an outstanding meal service which highlights the best regional and seasonal ingredients. On the second floor, the restaurant serves traditional ‘kaiseki’ (multi-course) menu highlights the best seasonal and local ingredients meaning your experience changes with the seasons and is always unique.

On the ground floor, Shunka’s ‘tempura’ restaurant serves an outstanding menu of seasonal ingredients of the highest quality, lightly battered and fried and prepared in front of you. Known as a Japanese staple, Shunka allows you experience tempura as a fine dining experience.

Soba Cuisine Tsumugi

Soba Tsumugi’s traditional ‘kaiseki’ (multi-course) menu highlights the best seasonal and regional ingredients from Nagano, meaning you can experience the seasons of Japan through not just the weather but also your tastebuds. This excellence is strung through the entire restaurant, with pesticide free vegetable, artisanal ingredients and handmade soba, all tied together by a chef who served in Michelin star restaurants in Kanazawa and Nagano.

Try any one of their expertly crafted multi-course means and dive deep into the Nagano region through food. The meal, based around the local specialty of soba, will take you on journey through traditional Japanese cuisine. So sit down, eat and connect to the food and people around you.

MONZEN TERRACE ENYA

Having opened in 2018, Monzen Terrace Enya has quickly established itself as one of Nagano’s most popular restaurants. Serving a mixed menu of both Japanese and Western cuisine, Enya is known for its delicious menu, wide variety of drinks, friendly service and English-speaking staff. Located just before the entrance to Nagano near-1400 year old Zenko-ji Temple, Monzen Terrace Enya a popular destination for local residents and international visitors – a modern and exciting restaurant in the city’s historic heart.

Monzen Terrace Enya offers diners both indoor and outdoor dining, spread across varied spaces and rooms. The restaurant’s terrace is popular in all seasons – even in winter! – as one of the few venues in Nagano offering outdoor seating all year round. Open from 11:30 to 22:00, Enya serves a wide range of cuisine including sit down dining for lunch and dinner, drinks and snacks, and takeaway. Enya prides itself on using locally-sourced vegetables from the nearby farms of Iiyama and fresh seafood bought directly at coastal markets on the Sea of Japan. Head chefs prepare outstanding sushi and sashimi, complemented by a full menu of Japanese favorites including wagyu, soba noodles, ramen, tempura and more. Pizzas, fondue, wraps and others round-out the menu along with a tempting selection of cakes and pastries made on the premise – perfect to enjoy with a coffee anytime of the day.

Western Cuisine Moritaro

Western Cuisine Moritaro has a great atmosphere that feels nostalgic to many people traveling from abroad but with a slight Japanese twist. If you want to try some classics like omurice (omelette over rice), hamburger steak or even nori(seaweed)-butter spaghetti, this is the perfect choice for you. The meats and vegetables used at the restaurant are locally sourced and exploring the flavors are an experience in and of themselves.

The Japanese flavors with local ingredients to make Western style foods can give you a comfort of home while still exploring new food styles. Enjoy the atmosphere in this Western-style nostalgic interior, inside a hundreds of years old renovated warehouse while eating foods that have flavors that are equally complex and, of course, delicious.

Cafe & Bar Happa

Cafe & Bar Happa is a small two story establishment that has all different types of alcohol and specializes in Japanese sake made in the region. Try and learn about the different tastes of sake while in a comfortable environment. On the second floor is a gallery space that can be used by anyone and even for acoustic instruments and other musically related interests. You never know what is going to be up there on the second floor.

If you are looking to slow down in the afternoon or just want to try many different types of alcohol, this is the place for you. A friendly and warm environment combined with the deep knowledge and delicious drinks of the bartender, this is a place you could easily lose track of time.

Ristorante la Campanella

Ristorante de Campanella is an elegantly designed eatery in a renovated Japanese style warehouse. The mixture of styles extends outdoors to the patio area as well, where you can bring your pets and enjoy the food with a beautiful atmosphere. The restaurant specialize in using ingredients from the small mountain village of Takayama, about a 50 minutes drives through winding roads. All the dishes here, including the desserts, are made by hand and in house with utmost care with those delicious local culinary components.

This is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the seasons, indoors or out, with the freshest meats, vegetable and desserts. The expert crafting of the local ingredients into well known dishes, but with a Japanese twist, is something to definitely check out.

Morino Coffee Shop Kumori Tokidoki Hare

Morino Coffee Shop Kumori Tokidoki Hare which is traditional Japanese warehouse on the outside but exudes warmth and hospitality inside. This coffee shop roasts its own beans and uses those grinds to make drip coffee for everyone to enjoy. Each cup of coffee is carefully made and can be paired with the many delicious desserts that are on offer. If you are feeling more hungry, the shop also sells sandwiches and other foods that also go well with the hand-dripped coffee but also fill you up.

Take you time and enjoy the high quality roasts and desserts at Morino Coffee Shop Kumori Tokidoki Hare in a relaxing environment. For those customers who are interested in buying some of the beans, you are more than welcome! They also deliver the beans to anywhere within a three kilometer radius of the shop.

Oldies Bar My Life

‘Oldies Bar My Life’ is unlike many other music bars where many people come just to hear the music of the night, this is one where the customers also get in on the action. There are various musical instruments that the guests can play and enjoy with the others in the bar. Music is a language that is shared by people all over the world and a great opportunity to make once in a lifetime memories in Nagano.

If you are lucky, sometimes even professional musicians make their way to this bar too. This is a bar to drink great drinks, play great music and enjoy the night with a group of your newest and best friends from all over Japan and the world.

Oyaki Ogawanosho

Oyaki Ogawanosho has worked to retain the techniques of home cooking from ages past with oyaki and other rural cuisine. Oyaki is a type of stuffed dumping that can be filled with many different delicious ingredients. This restaurant also has a hearth where they cook with fresh, local ingredients that bring back memories of grandma and grandpa (if your grandparents were Japanese and lived in the countryside, of course). There is also an option for you to try your hand at this kind of traditional style and cook up some warm and tasty food yourself.

Let your sense of adventure guide you in trying these local specialties, either made by an expert or your own hand. The comforting atmosphere of an old Japanese home with a hearth makes this restaurant is an experience in and of itself. Also, if you are looking for a quick bite, trying one of their oyaki is something you can’t miss!

Ramen Kirinji

Ramen Kirinji is a classic ramen store that produces dishes that are stunning as the decor that decorates it. An ordering machine that has many languages available will greet you as you walk in and you can easily order the type of ramen that you want. The most popular are the soy sauce, salt and white chicken broth ramens, all served piping hot with medium thickness noodles. Many of the ramens here come with the normal chashu(cut of pork), but some come with an additional piece of delicious bacon ham.

Do you want to try local ramen in a modern-traditional restaurant? This is the place go. The perfectly set noodles, vegetables and meat will make your mouth water and your eyes widen. Ramen Kirinji should be a stop on any ramen lovers’ trip in Nagano.

Cafe + Town Guide Engawa

Cafe + Town Guide Engawa was started by someone who ran a tea shop and used that expertise in roasts to make excellent coffee as well. This cafe specializes in coffees that are on the bitter side but at the same time refreshing. Customers from the young to the elderly can easily enjoy not only the excellent coffee but also the other drinks and foods that are available. Nagano is famous for apples so Cafe + Town Guide Engawa has 100% pure apple juice that goes great with whatever fruit snacks were made that day. If tea is your thing, there are also varieties of tea drinks including black tea latte’s. While sipping your drink, feel free to ask about the town, the owner often writes in local magazines about the different restaurants, sightseeing spots and events.

Take it slow and enjoy the many drinks on offer while learning about the area. The store itself, with its warm wood combine with dark stone sets a great mood for a drink, a chat or to simply appreciate the moment.

Japanese Cuisine Yamabuki

Japanese Cuisine Yamabuki is one of those restaurants that aims to create all different kinds of connections. The most important is one with the food. Reconnect with the roots of Japanese cuisine through a meal inspired by good old fashioned countryside foods. The use of local ingredients will bring you one step closer to life in those areas and the beautiful nature of which they are surrounded. The mixture of different colors, tastes and textures of the rural part of Japan is something that can only be experienced at this type of restaurant.

The connections don’t stop at just the food, you will connect with the people around in new and interesting ways as you experience each dish. The atmosphere enhances the countryside feeling and adds that extra je ne sais quois. Enjoy a relaxing and diverse range of dishes at this back-to-the-countryside style of deliciously local cuisine.

Japanese Cuisine Yorifuji Ayu

Japanese Cuisine Yorifuji Ayu uses ayu(sweet fish) from one of the the clearest, cleanest and most delicious water sources in Japan, the Kawabegawa River in southwest Kumamoto. This region prides itself in having the most delicious water in Japan and the best tasting freshwater fish in that water. The salted ayu is slowly grilled over hot coals, creating a wonderful aroma that no one can resist. This shop in particular specializes in not just the grilling of the ayu, which you can buy individually as more of a snack, but rather the creation of a full set meal to compliment and bring out the flavors of the fish. And don’t forget the unagi (eel), which is served up in a variety of ways but always with that special savory sauce that everyone loves.

Try some Japanese river fish form the freshest streams and travel back in time to the late 1800’s when these style of dishes were popularized. This is definitely an experience that won’t be forgotten easily, whether it is simple trying one of the fish or getting the whole meal!

Kantenpapa Shop

Kantenpapa Shop’s motto is “just a bit handmade” which means that every product has some some kind of human touch to it. And as you walk in this shop you’ll notice the bright colors of the products allowed to really shine by the understated elegance of the rest of the interior. These products include many different foods such as soups, puddings and many others that require only adding (hot) water. This makes eating healthy even easier than ever! The product this store is most famous for; however, is the kanten, or jelly snack. They are usually rectangular or square and come in many different flavors. As this is shop focused on your health, these include various tasty vegetable flavors to help improve many of the different functions of your body.

After taking your time shopping and finding foods to improve your bodily health, head upstairs to the gallery to work of your mental health. The art gallery on the second floor often has local painters and artisans represent their wares in a relaxing and comfortable environment. Come to the Kantenpapa Shop to try a new type of Japanese health food and enjoy the creativity of local creators.

The Treat Dressing

The Treat Dressing has worked to scour the world for the most up to date and fashionable wedding and party dresses. Take your time trying on each dress so that you can find the perfect one to fit your style and dream for your perfect day. Your own personal coordinator will help you find that match and assist in bringing together the dress with the accessories and shoes to create a once in a lifetime gown.

The beautiful and elegant interior of the shop will make you feel the wonder of the moment as you are whisked away to find “the one.” Let the coordinators bring you on a journey of modern fashion to help you decide on the dream dress for that special event. Whether it is for a wedding or other event, this shop is that worldly experience that all people deserve to be and look their best.

Gallery / Shop Geshi

Gallery / Shop Geshi has many attributes but the most striking is the color. The entire space is white and gives the over 100 year old recently renovated warehouse building that clean modern feel. This is contrasted with the imperfections of the building itself and the items on display. Another contrast is the coldness of the white interior with warmth of the items on display. When talking not only about the colors but their use, most of art are household goods exude the warmth of regular home use. The coziness of looking at a nabe, albeit in a cold white space is one of interesting artistic contradictions.

Crafts such as pottery, glassware, and lacquerware; works of art such as stone carvings, wood carvings, and prints; and clothing and jewelry all are on display at this gallery and shop space. The styles of the artists are as varied; from a kimono reuse expert to modern postcard art. Take your time and enjoy the handmade beauty in a clean and reflective white interior.