Climbing the stairs, the strong smell of fresh brew nearly knocks you back into the rain. A thin man with a shock of white hair is standing behind the bar in an indigo apron. He’s reading a paperback book but nods his head in greeting.
Everything is a dark walnut: the bar, the tables and chairs. Even the walls are paneled in the same wood. Jazz is playing softly out of small speakers above the bar.
The kissaten is small. You just called out your order in your regular speaking voice and the master immediately pours some beans into a hand-grinder. As he slowly grinds the rattling coffee beans with one hand, he continues reading his paperback, holding the book in the other.
Looking around, there is not one indication anywhere—not even a whiff— that would make you think you were anywhere else but in Showa Japan. Traditional Japanese coffeeshops are like time-slips that transport people back to a particular time and place.
The Showa era. It lasted a long time. Corresponding the the reign of Emperor Hirohito, it lasted from 1926 until 1989. Most kissa seem to be evoking Showa in its heyday—sometime after the war and the great economic miracle. Foodies love them since they often serve up world-class cups of coffee.
Anna Sherman, in her book Bells of Tokyo, spends a huge amount of lot of time in what was once of the most famous kissaten in Tokyo, Daibo Coffee. Daibo was a coffee purist. Hand-roasting the finest beans he could find on a stove each morning, he turned pour-over into a ritualized event, like the tea ceremony. To slow down and savor the moment.
Like so many other people, I adore the Showa retro style. We had quite a few Showa era retro places in Tochigi. The first time I had “Viennese coffee” (Einspänner Coffee?) was in a kissaten in Tochigi. I was so surprised to drink coffee with whipped cream… And I still dream of eating morning sets for breakfasts and melon soda desserts! (My son wanted to do two things the last time he returned to Japan: eat unagi and have a melon soda at a kissaten. )
I always thought of kissaten as being a cross between some of Vienna’s unique and elegant cafes and a cha chaan teng ( 茶餐廳) in Hong Kong.
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Daibo Dreams of Coffee: essay and video at Roads and Kingdoms
Just finished Karen Hill Anton’s debut novel, A Thousand Graces—which also takes place in the Showa heyday. People will know Anton from her her fifteen-year column at the Japan Times, Crossing Cultures. Originally from New York City, Hill arrived in Japan in 1975, where she lived in a farmhouse in Shizuoka. An accomplished dancer and Japanese calligrapher, she is also an award-winning memoirist. Her book, The View From Breast Pocket Mountain, chronicles are life and is also highly recommended.
In New York, I love Cafe Sabarsky in the Neue Galerie.
Enjoyed the essay and the nostalgia it evoked. I’ve maybe been in a kissaten once or twice in my 48 years in Japan. They’re not really a feature of country life--and I’m not much of a coffee drinker--but I get the appeal. Surprised and much appreciated mention of my novel and memoir, thank you!
On my first visit to Japan, I stumbled upon a kissa on Takeshita Street, of all places. It was raining so I stayed & wrote in my journal for quite some time. I'm so excited to sample more kissa once I get back to Tokyo! Do you have any recommendations around Shinjuku/Shibuya?