The four-compartment Shōkadō bentō, now standard across Japan, was devised in the 1930s by Kitchō's founder Yuki Teiichi after seeing the painter-monk Shōkadō Shōjō's partitioned box at a tea gathering at his hermitage in Yawata. Kitchō's Shōkadō branch, inside the Shōkadō Garden, still serves it there.
Why it's unique
This is the origin site of a nationwide format, served by the restaurant that invented it. The box began as a farmer's seed box that Shōkadō lacquered for his paints, and Yuki Teiichi turned it into a meal box after seeing it here.
You eat the bentō in the same garden where the idea came from, served by the same restaurant group that devised it.
Before you go
The box began as a farmer's seed box that Shōkadō lacquered for his paints. Book ahead (up to two days before via TableCheck or phone); dinner is Friday to Sunday and holidays only.
The hermitage itself and the inner garden have been closed since the 2018 quake except special openings (14 November to 6 December 2026), so time a visit for those dates if you want to see the building the box is named for.
About ¥4,000 to ¥5,500 including tax and service; lunch 11:00 to 15:00; closed Mondays and 24 December to 9 January. Tel 075-971-3311. Keihan bus to Ōshiba or Shōkadō-mae.
