Portals of the past: Peering into Tokyo's traditional kissaten coffee shops
"Sorry, we're full," I hear someone say as I open the door to Ladrio, a pre-eminent kissaten (traditional coffee shop) situated in a tumbledown alley in Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood. Ladrio is located in a tumbledown alley in Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood. | RIKO MONMA I'm naturally disappointed ...
Vaughan Allison: Transforming nonessentials into essentials
Vaughan Allison on why his blood is black, his best concert memory and the most underrated area in Tokyo.
Farewell Mary Jane: Grieving for a lost jazz hideout
The late Donald Richie, a legendary chronicler of 20th century Japan, once said that to accept life in Tokyo, you must embrace constant change and not give in to nostalgia. In the 60 years he lived in this great city he saw multiple transformations ...
The long pour: Tokyo Coffee Festival rounds up specialty coffee from across Japan
Japanese coffee shops are more international than ever, yet manage to preserve a unique sense of kodawari, an uncompromising dedication to the craft.
Tokyo's classical music cafes are time capsules for audiophiles
In this age of musical abundance, it's hard to fathom that an LP once cost the equivalent of a few days' wages in Japan. In the 1950s, audiophiles who couldn't afford to buy their own music did their listening at coffee shops known as ...
Tokyo's retro coffee palaces are in a class entirely their own
The archetypical kissaten (traditional coffee shop) would probably be a cozy neighborhood joint with faded '60s decor, one of those vintage pink pay phones that only take ¥10 coins and a couple of elderly customers smoking furiously as they squint over their newspapers. If you ...
Chatei Hatou: A pilgrimage site for traditional coffee
When Starbucks arrived in Japan in 1996, it should have spelled trouble for Doutor, the dowdy coffee chain that had dominated the market since the 1980s. In fact, the opposite happened: by cultivating demand for gourmet coffee, Starbucks actually revived the fortunes of its ...
Suzuya: one of the old capital's oldest coffee shops
Last year, Suzuya celebrated its 70th anniversary, making it one of the oldest kissaten (traditional coffee shops) in Kyoto. To the best of my knowledge, only Salon de The Francois — which opened in the interwar period — pips it for longevity. From outside, it's ...
Have breakfast in Tokyo where time has frozen, but the coffee's hot
Visiting one of Japan traditional coffee shops, known as kissaten, is a unique way to start to the day. For breakfast, many kissaten offer a "morning service," which includes coffee and a small meal — often with toast, some meat, an egg and a salad. ...
Togenkyo: A return to Japan's traditional coffee-shop style
Togenkyo is a cafe curated to the nth degree. Being so self-conscious, even self-indulgent, could be a turn off, but Togenkyo has its charms. Opened in 2010, the overriding design theme is retro: the tables have little stands for old-school lighters and coffee is brewed ...
Ogawa Coffee: An old-world coffee house without the traditional atmosphere
For a small city, Kyoto is big on coffee. As with every city in Japan, the current "third-wave" coffee boom has brought more choice and quality when it comes to cafes and beans. This is undeniably good news for coffee drinkers. Ogawa Coffee and ...
Mazura is a hazy paradise for 1970s salarymen
Now that washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) is part of the World's Intangible Cultural Heritage, the next step is to make the nation's kissaten (tea and coffee shops) part of the world's tangible cultural heritage before they disappear. Mazura, in Osaka's Umeda district, definitely deserves heritage ...
