Kyōto's Kisssaten

京都のきっさてん
2012

Coffee houses are ubiquitous in the Kyōto cultural scene. The classic kissaten, the name given to neighborhood coffee and tea shops in Japan, is under siege by foreign and local coffee chains across the nation. Kyōto's kissaten have suffered notable casualties in the coffee wars, but this is a college town, with 37 institutions of higher learning, and the corner coffee shops are still thriving despite the Starbucks invasion.  One thing to bear in mind: Decaf coffee is nowhere to be found in Japan. The whole point is stimulation.

Coffee Smart

Coffee Smart

Coffee Smart is one of the originals. It's been roasting and serving coffee on the Teramachi shopping street since 1932.

Honyarado

Honyarado is of a more recent vintage, serving
the counter-culture folk scene since 1972 outside
the gates of Doshisha University

Honyarado got it's name from a classic manga

Kamogawa Café

This is a nice place but the name is misleading. It does not front the Kamogawa River and it's large second-story windows offer a view of the street below

False Advertising

A few blocks south is a café with a patio that lives
 up to expectations overlooking the river.

The Real Thing

Café du Mon

At first I thought the sign said Café du Monde, in homage to the iconic café in New Orleans, but on closer examination I saw it isn't French at all. Mon means gate in Japanese and this place faces Daitokuji's east gate. They don't serve chicory coffee here, but the owner has a sense of humor

Toru, the café's master

Lush Life

Before hip-hop pop and Mp3 files, Kyōto used to be teeming with small jazz cafes and bars where the bartender doubled as authoritative disc-jockey spinning. Hidden across the street from the Demachi Yanagi rail depot, Lush Life is one of the survivors, quietly keeping the tradition alive.

Classic jazz LPs line the wall at Lush Life

Inoda Coffee

Since it opened in 1972 as a coffee roasting café, Inoda Coffee has grown into a chain of kissaten around the city that maintain a wood-paneled retro ambience



Look familiar?

The Juggernaut