The Ultimate Guide to Café Culture in Japan:
Kissatens, Kawaii Cafés & Pancake Havens

Café culture has been evolving in Japan. While the country is well known for its traditional tea culture, it also embraced coffee making since the late 19^th century. Kissatens – traditional Japanese coffee houses appeared mainly in mid 20^th century with calm atmosphere and lovely ambience.

As you probably already guessed from my blog, café hopping was one of the priorities on my Japan itinerary – we visited dozens of character cafes, kawai (cute) theme cafes, kissatens with traditional settings, specialty coffees.

Have you heard this popular tongue-in-cheek theory about Japan: in the wake of its post-WWII reputation crisis, Japan decided to launch a full-scale invasion of cuteness – think adorable mascots, amines, sparkly cafés, heart-shaped food, cutest robots and Hello Kitty. Guess what? It totally worked. These days, the power of kawaii culture is visible in everything, but especially in Japan’s amazing cutest themed cafés.

See also my complete guide with tips and itineraries for planning your trip to Japan.

While I can’t say I managed to check out all cafes I wanted to, I definitely managed quite a few. I still have a lot more pinned on Google maps on my list for my next visits. So I will share my suggestions with you, as well as the places that are on my list to try.

A note: As I will be mentioning kissaten often – they are retro-style Japanese cafés, often dimly lit with vintage furniture, jazz playing , and strong black coffee. They take you back to 1960s and 1970s.

Tips on Visiting Cafes in Japan

Before we jump into listing the cafes we did love and didn’t so much like, I have to give you some tips, that may help you while visiting popular cafes:

Check out Opening Times

Interestingly, not many cafes open early in the morning. So if you are a morning person, or if you, like me, get up early only during your travels, you need to check the opening hours of the cafes you can actually visit until 9am. Those will most probably be either chain branches, or the cafes mostly concentrating on breakfast.

Similarly, check which days do the cafes work. While many in bigger cities work daily, there are exceptions. In the smaller cities though, it’s common that some cafes may be closed on certain days of the week. So definitely check in advance, before visiting.

Rules on Minimum Order

In some of the most popular cafes, especially character cafes, they may have “one person – one drink” rule. This is not as common in Japan in our experience, as it is in Korea, but it’s still there. Especially in case if you make a reservation in advance. With reservation, there might be even more rules – such as the spending limit, or even 2 drinks per person requirement.

Find Less Popular Times for Visiting Famous Cafes

While the popular cafes are often very crowded, you may still manage to go at a non-crowded time or to a less crowded branch. Weekdays are of course better than weekends. Showing up first thing upon opening or towards later evening is much better than afternoon times. For instance, we got in Sanrio café in Ikebukuro without wait because we showed up at about 7pm, while Pompompurin café we visited directly at the opening time of 11am. However, I am sure we wouldn’t be able to do anything on weekends. One Saturday, we tried to get into any of my noted cafes in Harajuku and literally all of them had huge queues, so we obviously skipped.

Advance Reservations

Many popular cafes and restaurants can get fully booked in advance. These mainly include the famous character cafes, or Insta and TikTok popular places. Many have queues outside, as I mentioned above, where you may have to wait half an hour, an hour, or who knows how long 😊 So before going, do check if the café or restaurant you want to visit requires reservation. There are very few such cafes in my list though.

List of the Most Beautiful Cafes by City

Below are my lists of mainly independent coffee shops in various cities. The lists are of course based on my opinion and my research. There are numerous more cafes all around Japan and I am sure I wouldn’t be able to check out all of them in a lifetime 😊

Kanto Region

Best Cafes in Tokyo

See my Dedicated post to cutest cafes in Tokyo

Best Cafes in Kawaguchiko

Kawaguchiko area is a very popular touristy destination and, hence, you find a number of cute cafes with a view.

Troisieme Marche

We didn’t get a chance to try their cakes, but they look awesome.

Café Mimi

Beautiful lakeside café with a view of mount Fuji. The atmosphere here was really nice.

Lake Bake café

If you make it all the way to the Oishi park area, this café looks cute.

Fuji Oishi Hana terrace

Best Cafes in Nikko

Nikko Coffee

A pretty popular café, which has two branches in Nikko. Their coffee was pretty good, but if you don’t like black coffee, they don’t really have options for you. Besides, it’s pretty expensive. We came here on a very cold day with the main aim to warm up. As it is an old building, it certainly doesn’t keep warmth that well, but it did the job still 😊

Hongu café

This café is located at a very convenient location near Shinkyo bridge.

Toki Coffee

If you are visiting the Kegon waterfall, this café is at a very convenient location.

Kansai Region

Best Cafes in Kyoto and Osaka

See my Dedicated post to cutest cafes in Kyoto and Osaka  

Best Cafes in Nara

In Nara many lovely cafes are concentrated in Naramachi district, which provides an easy access to people who visit on a day trip.

CHAMI – Specialty Coffee Roaster

I didn’t expect much from this modern looking coffee place, but they had great coffee and very welcoming baristas. They have a second floor sitting, as well as bar type seats downstairs. Definitely come here, if you are looking for good coffee in a convenient location.

Rokumei Coffee

The café is located just next to the Kintetsu Nara station and offers simple breakfast and coffee.

Maldita Maldito

Cute kissaten type café

Salon Naramachi

A café in a traditional setting with small Japanese garden. It offers Japanese sweets and drinks.

Mizuya Chaya

Teahouse in the Nara park

Nakatanidou

This is not a café per se, it’s more of a shop. If you are a fan of Mochi, this is one of the most famous mochi places. You might have seen all the videos about how they make mochi here. However, if you want to see it in action, you have to arrive earlier in the day. While it was supposed to be open till 7, it was closed by 6, when we visited.

Chubu Region

Best Cafes in Kanazawa and Takayama

See my dedicated post to the cafes in Kanazawa, Takatama and Shirakawago

Chugoku Region

Best Cafes in Onomichi

Hibi Coffee

This cute small café is hidden along the train tracks. The staff was very welcoming. We got a very cute cat shaped delicious ice-cream dessert.

House of Onomichi Ihatovu-owl

You will find this wooden café when climbing up or down the temple area. It has views over the cat alley. It has Ghibli vibes – quirky and eerie. I honestly don’t know how to describe it properly. Even photos don’t quite capture it, you just have to visit. The café was full when we visited, but we only had to wait a few minutes, before they found us a seat. Honestly, can’t say the lady was very welcoming, she seemed overwhelmed, although they only have a few tables.

Antenna coffee house

Cute little café on the way up or down the temple area.

Oyatsu-to-Yamaneko

This little shop has tasty milk puddings.

Best Cafes in Kurashiki

Kurashiki Coffee-kan

This popular coffee house has been working since 1970s. They have a big selection of coffee and it was absolutely great. If the prices were not huge, I would definitely buy beans from them. On top of that, the café is beautiful. They bring you coffee in old pretty cups. They also have a small yard with seating. Don’t miss this place when in Kurashiki.

Café El Greco

A gorgeous café decorated with flowers from outside. Vintage furniture and welcoming staff also helps a lot.

Kyushu Region

Unlike the more popular touristy regions of Japan, cafes around Kyushu are quiet and usually without queues.

Want to cafe hop in Kyushu? Check out my cafe guide. 

Café Chains with Branches in Many Cities

We generally tried to visit independent cafes, however, sometimes we checked out the chains as well. Here is the list of decent café chains, which you could try. These are Japanese and international brands, which are popular and widely available around the country. I can’t say I was a huge fan of any of them, but they were pretty decent and ok enough option, especially before a train ride:

Doutor – this is one of the, if not the, largest café chains in the country. It is also one of the cheapest. I can’t say I was a fan of their coffee, but it’s all right to grab to take on a train.

Excelsior – Doutor slightly more upscale bigger brother (owned by the same company) offers decent coffee, sometime even with latte art.

Hoshino – a kissaten type chain with interesting old-style interior. The café chain has about 200 branches. Except for their black coffee, they offer souffle pancakes and other sweets. We did try 2 types of their souffles. They were not to our taste, compared to other fluffy versions we tried, but they were still good and you might like it a lot.

Starbucks – you can find a Starbucks branch basically everywhere you go. This US brand is very popular in Japan for a reason I can’t quite fathom, and you will find some quirky branches, branches in historical settings (like the one in Sannenzaka in Kyoto), a huge roastery branch in Tokyo, etc.

Tully’s – this US born company was acquire by Japanese and has thrived in Japan. Their coffee was decent and the atmosphere was fine for sitting for a short while.

Komeda’s – this Japanese chain is becoming more and more popular. They concentrate on offering bigger spaces and nice atmosphere. They have decent coffee.

% Arabica – while this chain is smaller, it’s rapidly gaining popularity around the world. There are branches in London, Dubai, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and a number of other cities in Europe and Asia. They are also planning to open more. Their coffee is strong and good. I will write about their Kyoto branches in my post about the city.

Saint Marc café – this is a very popular Japanese chain I definitely plan to try next time.

Blue Bottle Coffee – this chain does not have as many branches, as most others mentioned here, but it’s been growing. Coffee here is great, so if you come by it, definitely do try.

Beck’s coffee shop

Café Veloce

Ueshima

Pancake Café Chains

Happy Pancake – this is a very popular chain with branches in a lot of locations. I can’t say that I loved their souffle pancakes, but they were quite decent. Plus, they are usually open later in the evening, which not many cafes do and that is pretty convenient.

Eggs and Things – this American style cafes are in a lot of locations as well. Their pancakes are not souffle, but rather the American pancake style. We ordered savory ones when we visited their branch in Harajuku, and it was decent. Basically if you need breakfast, this is not a bad option.

Flipper’s – another chain for Japanese pancakes. We didn’t get to try it yet.

Cheapest Coffees on the Go

When talking about coffee and tea in Japan, one has to absolutely mention the convenience stores and even the vending machines. I gotta say the simplest and cheapest coffee at Lawsons was quite decent. So if you are on a budget and need coffee in the morning, you can definitely opt for it. You also have other convenience stores with good coffee machines.

Another option is canned coffees and teas in convenience stores and vending machines. M has tried every type of drink from vending machines we saw on the way. I did try some of those coffees and personally was not a fan of either because they are normally sweet and hardly taste of coffee. But if you like sweet coffees and want a drink on the go, you may give them a try.

See also

My Japan food guide, as a non-foodie

Comprehensive tips for planning your trip to Japan