Kawara soba (瓦そば) is a Yamaguchi Prefecture dish: green tea soba noodles, beef, thin strips of egg and lemon, served on a hot roof tile. This guide compares nine restaurants in Shimonoseki, Hagi, Yamaguchi City and Nagato by price, opening hours, reservations and parking. Eight of the nine are on the Yamaguchi Prefecture Tourism Federation’s kawara soba feature, and the ninth is Yanagiya’s Hagi shop.
In short
- A serving costs ¥1,320 (Otafuku) to ¥1,496 (Yanagiya), according to the restaurants’ own pages.
- Five restaurants do not take table reservations: Otafuku, Kozan and the three Yanagiya shops. Heike Chaya takes reservations by phone or online.
- Late: Karatoya is open until 23:00, Otafuku until 22:00, and Heike Chaya until 21:00. Kozan serves lunch only.
- Parking numbers are given for Otafuku (200), Karatoya (104), Heike Chaya (50), Daidaitei (36) and Kozan (5 spaces at the door).
- Takase, the shop that created kawara soba, has an official English page. Its Main Hall opens only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; the South Main Hall next door is open 11:00–20:00.
Checked with official pages on October 5, 2026.
1. Nine kawara soba restaurants in one table
Depends on the provider
A single serving is ¥1,320 at Otafuku and rises to ¥1,496 at Yanagiya; five of the nine restaurants say they do not take table reservations. Tap a name to jump to its section. Prices include tax unless noted.
| Restaurant | Hours and closed days | Parking | One serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takase (Shimonoseki) | South Main Hall 11:00–20:00, irregular days off; Main Hall Sat, Sun and holidays only | Not stated | ¥1,485 |
| Otafuku (Shimonoseki) | 11:00–22:00; no regular closed day | 200, free | ¥1,320 |
| Karatoya (Shimonoseki) | 11:00–15:00 and 17:30–23:00; open daily | 104 | ¥1,430 (mini) |
| Heike Chaya (Shimonoseki) | 11:00–15:00 and 17:00–21:00; closed Tue | 50 | ¥1,400 |
| Daidaitei (Hagi) | 11:00–16:00; open daily | 36 cars | ¥1,450 |
| Kozan (Yamaguchi) | 11:00–14:00 (last order); open daily | 5 at the door | ¥1,430 |
| Yanagiya Nagato Yumoto | 11:00–19:00; closed Tue and 3rd Wed | Onsen car park | ¥1,496 |
| Yanagiya Yamaguchi | 11:00–16:00; closed Wed and 3rd Thu | None | ¥1,496 |
| Yanagiya Hagi | 11:00–16:00; closed Thu and 2nd Wed | None | ¥1,496 |
Karatoya’s page does not say whether its ¥1,430 includes tax, so the price is shown as listed. Yanagiya lists ¥1,360 before tax, which is ¥1,496 with tax. Karatoya’s serving is a “mini kawara soba” for one person. Hours are opening hours; the last order is earlier and is given in each section.
2. What is kawara soba, and where did it start?
Yamaguchi Prefecture
Kawara soba is green tea soba noodles, beef, thin strips of egg and other toppings, served on a hot roof tile (kawara). The prefecture’s tourism site says it was born in Kawatana Onsen in Shimonoseki in 1962 (Showa 37). The shop credited as the creator, Takase (たかせ), says on its own page that it was developed there in 1962 by its founder.
The tourism feature says a big tile is often used to serve two or three people. It describes dipping the noodles in the warm sauce first, and adding lemon slices and grated radish with chili (momiji-oroshi) after about half. The tile gets crisp at the bottom, so the last part of the noodles is crunchy.
3. What to know before you choose
Depends on the provider
Otafuku, Kozan and all three Yanagiya shops say on their own pages that they do not take table reservations. Heike Chaya takes reservations by phone or on its website. Takase’s course meals (kaiseki) need booking 3 days ahead. The other pages do not mention reservations for a plain kawara soba.
- Parking depends on where the shop is. Otafuku (200, free), Heike Chaya (50) and Karatoya (104, inside Kamon Wharf) give numbers. Yanagiya’s Yamaguchi and Hagi shops have no partner car park and point you to a coin car park and a public car park, and the Nagato Yumoto shop points you to the Nagato Yumoto Onsen car park.
- Getting to Kawatana Onsen: the prefecture’s tourism site says it is about 50 minutes by bus from JR Shimonoseki Station, or about 5 minutes by taxi from JR Kawatana Onsen Station. Takase’s page gives driving directions from Shimonoseki IC and Ozuki IC.
- Ordering rules: Yanagiya asks each person to order at least one serving, except for small children, and puts two or three servings on one tile. Kozan lists ¥3,630 for a 3-person serving, which is ¥660 less than three 1-person servings (¥4,290).
- Language: only Takase has an official English page. The others do not say whether staff speak English.
4. Takase (たかせ): the Kawatana shop that started it in 1962
Shimonoseki City
A serving of kawara soba is ¥1,485 including tax. Takase’s English page says the founder developed it from an old story of Satsuma soldiers cooking on roof tiles during the Seinan War in 1877. The noodles, according to the Japanese page, mix Uji matcha from Kyoto with buckwheat flour from Hokkaido.
The Main Hall (川棚本館) is a renovated building about 100 years old, with seating on both floors. Its page lists 11:00–15:00 and says it opens only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The South Main Hall (川棚南本館) next door has 66 table seats, plus an 80-seat hall upstairs in busy seasons. Its page lists 11:00–20:00 with irregular closed days. Takase posts special hours for holiday periods on its top page, so call before you go. Kaiseki courses start at ¥4,000, for 2 or more people, booked 3 days ahead.
Takase also has a shop at Youme City Shin-Shimonoseki (phone 083-250-7337); see its page for the hours.
Address: 5437 Kawatana, Toyoura-cho, Shimonoseki City. Phone: 083-772-2680 (main line, 9:00–17:00). Google Maps
5. Otafuku (お多福): open 11:00–22:00 with 200 free parking spaces
Shimonoseki City
It is open 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:00), has no regular closed day, and has a free car park with 200 spaces. Otafuku is the restaurant inside the Kawatana Grand Hotel Otafuku (川棚グランドホテルお多福). From 14:00 to 17:00 the menu is limited to kawara soba and hitsumabushi (eel on rice). It does not take table reservations; you walk in.
A serving of kawara soba is ¥1,320 including tax. The “luxury” version with Takamori Wagyu beef is ¥2,200. The hotel’s page says it cooks on real roof tiles that once sat on old houses, and that the dashi has no sugar. A combination ticket for the large bath plus a ¥1,320 in-house voucher costs ¥1,800 on weekdays and ¥2,000 on weekends and holidays.
Address: 4912-1 Kawatana, Toyoura-cho, Shimonoseki City. Phone: 083-774-1111 (9:30–19:00). Google Maps
6. Karatoya (からと屋): lunch and dinner at Kamon Wharf, open daily
Shimonoseki City
Karatoya is open 11:00–15:00 (last order 14:00) and 17:30–23:00 (last order 22:00) with no regular closed day (hours change over the New Year). It has 138 seats, private rooms and 104 parking spaces, and accepts major credit cards. The page gives an average spend of ¥1,500 at lunch and ¥4,000 at dinner.
The one-person “mini kawara soba” is ¥1,430. A tile for two is ¥2,860 and for three ¥4,290. You can add a mini seafood bowl set (¥660) or a sushi set (¥1,100). The page says the restaurant serves fish from the Karato fish market and fugu (blowfish) sashimi using only tiger fugu.
Address: 6-1 Karatocho, Shimonoseki City (Kamon Wharf), about 9 minutes by car from JR Shimonoseki Station. Phone: 083-229-5640. Google Maps
7. Heike Chaya (平家茶屋): next to the Kanmon Bridge, reservations by phone or web
Shimonoseki City
A serving is ¥1,400 and a two-person serving is ¥2,800, including tax; reservations are by phone or the website’s online form, and there are 50 parking spaces. The restaurant’s page says its kawara soba is baked in an oven, giving a crisp texture, and that you can choose beef or conger eel and beef as toppings.
It is open 11:00–15:00 (last order 13:30) and 17:00–21:00 (last order 19:30). It is closed on Tuesdays (the next day if Tuesday is a holiday), December 31 and January 1, and it plans to close on one Wednesday a month. It has 200 seats and private rooms, and the page says there is a free shuttle service for parties of 10 or more who book a course.
It is a 1-minute walk from “Mimosusogawa” bus stop (about 12 minutes by bus from JR Shimonoseki Station toward Chofu), or about 5 to 10 minutes by car from Shimonoseki IC (the page gives both times). The underground car park is narrow and is mainly for small cars.
Address: 1-1 Mimosusogawacho, Shimonoseki City. Phone: 083-222-2022. Google Maps
8. Daidaitei (橙々亭): inside Michi-no-Eki Hagi Ookan, Hagi
Hagi City
Udon Chaya Daidaitei is the restaurant in the roadside station Michi-no-Eki Hagi Ookan (道の駅萩往還). It is open 11:00–16:00 (order stop 15:45) with no closed days. The page says the most popular dish is actually kawara soba, added to the menu in October 2013, made with green tea soba cooked on Sekishu roof tile, Chohagi Wagyu beef and homemade egg strips.
A serving is ¥1,450, for two ¥2,800 and for three ¥4,200, including tax. The roadside station has parking for 36 cars and 3 large vehicles. Address: 1258 Shikasegasaka, Tsubaki, Hagi City. Phone: 0838-22-9889 (the station’s line, 9:00–18:00). Google Maps
9. Kozan (香山): next to the five-story pagoda, Yamaguchi City
Yamaguchi City
It is open 11:00–14:00 (last order) every day, and a serving is ¥1,430, ¥2,530 for two or ¥3,630 for three, including tax. It is the restaurant next to the souvenir shop Choshuen (長州苑), and the page says it is 1–2 minutes’ walk from Kozan Park (Rurikoji five-story pagoda). Extras: large noodle portion +¥330, shiso-wakame rice +¥165.
There is no tatami room, but it has children’s chairs and tableware and a flat entrance for wheelchair users. It does not take table reservations. There are 5 spaces at the door; Choshuen’s page lists a car park for 100 cars and 20 large vehicles, and the Kozan page also points drivers to the city car park beside Kozan Park.
Address: 1-6 Kimachi, Yamaguchi City. Phone: Choshuen 083-925-5850 (8:30–17:00). Google Maps
10. Yanagiya (瓦そば柳屋): three shops in Nagato, Yamaguchi and Hagi
Depends on the provider
All three shops charge ¥1,360 before tax (¥1,496 with tax) for a serving and do not take table reservations. Closing days and parking differ by shop.
- Nagato Yumoto shop: on the ground floor of “Daigo Nagaya”, an old-house complex by the Otozure River. Open 11:00–19:00 (last order 18:30), closed Tuesdays and the 3rd Wednesday. 13 seats inside and 8 on the terrace. Use the Nagato Yumoto Onsen car park by the national road. Address: 1325-1 Fukawa Yumoto, Nagato City. Phone: 080-9185-3070.
- Yamaguchi Ichinosakagawa shop: open 11:00–16:00 (takeout until 17:00), closed Wednesdays and the 3rd Thursday. 12 seats. No partner car park; the page points to coin car parks along Prefectural Road 204. Address: 2-2 Shinbaba, Yamaguchi City. Phone: 090-5823-0924.
- Hagi Jokamachi shop: open 11:00–16:00, closed Thursdays and the 2nd Wednesday. 22 seats. No partner car park; use a public car park. Address: 21-7 Minamifuruhagicho, Hagi City. Phone: 090-7797-5779.
Yanagiya asks each person to order at least one serving (children excepted) and puts two or three servings on one tile. Map links: Nagato Yumoto, Yamaguchi, Hagi.
11. Which one should I choose?
Depends on the provider
- Driving: Otafuku (200), Karatoya (104) and Heike Chaya (50) give parking numbers.
- Booking a table: Heike Chaya, by phone or online. Takase takes bookings for its course meals.
- Lunch only: Kozan (until 14:00), Daidaitei, and Yanagiya’s Yamaguchi and Hagi shops (until 16:00).
- Dinner: Karatoya (until 23:00), Otafuku (until 22:00) and Heike Chaya (until 21:00).
Hours and closed days change. Check each official page before you go. The prefecture’s kawara soba feature (Japanese) lists other restaurants that are not in this guide.
Common questions
Which restaurants do not take reservations?
Otafuku, Kozan and the three Yanagiya shops say on their official pages that they do not take table reservations.
Is there an English page?
Takase has an English version of its website. The official pages of the other eight restaurants are in Japanese, and none says whether staff speak English.
What is the cheapest serving?
Otafuku’s serving is ¥1,320 including tax, the lowest of the nine on their official pages. Karatoya’s mini kawara soba is ¥1,430, with tax not stated.
Sources (checked October 2026)
- Yamaguchi Prefecture Tourism Federation: kawara soba feature (Japanese), Kawatana Onsen (Japanese), and its official YouTube video embedded above
- Takase: official English page, Main Hall, South Main Hall, Youme City shop, access (Japanese)
- Otafuku (Japanese), hotel FAQ with parking (Japanese)
- Karatoya official site (Japanese)
- Heike Chaya: access and shop information (Japanese), menu (Japanese)
- Daidaitei (Japanese), Michi-no-Eki Hagi Ookan access (Japanese)
- Kozan menu (Japanese), Choshuen facilities and parking (Japanese), and Choshuen’s official Instagram post embedded above
- Yanagiya: shops, menu (Japanese), and its Nagato Yumoto shop’s Instagram reel embedded above
