In smaller cities in Japan, looking for a coffee shop or restaurant can entail driving through a quiet residential area away from the main streets and plazas. A coffee shop in your neighbor’s kitchen is just a little out of place in the US.
If you live in the US,there’s one of two scenarios you are likely accustomed to. You probably know the feeling of taking the elevator to the street level and finding a cafe or even a restaurant tucked under a large apartment complex. This is part of big city living in a downtown metropolitan area. Meanwhile if you live in the ‘burbs, then you are probably used to walking a few blocks or driving half a mile to the nearest coffee shop situated in its own building with its own parking lot.
Big Cities, Small Japan
While the big city scenario might hold true for larger cities in Japan as well, small towns have a different scene. One of my favorite coffee shops in the Izukogen area in Shizuoka Prefecture does not stand out from the houses around it, and like my favorite okonomiyaki restaurant, the proprietor likely does not have any commute at all. It is very common in Japan for coffee shops, restaurants, and even retail stores to be operated out of the building that the own lives in it.
Small family businesses convert the large room or ground floor of their home into a public shop or restaurant. Many are complete with laundry hanging from a second floor balcony. If you’re there around 4pm, you can also witness the owner’s kid coming home from school and saying “Hi” to their parents behind the bar of the cafe. Many small businesses and craft goods shops may show up on google maps as well as a normal residential house, or my favorite, a local silversmith. If you live in a house in a small town in Japan, your neighbor’s kitchen might also be a coffee shop!
Explored small town Japan? What quaint shops or cafes have you run into in the most unexpected of quiet neighborhoods? Let us know what else you want to see!
