Go Find a Good Kissaten (Local Japanese Coffee Shop)

When I first arrived in my small city in the middle of the mountains with very limited Japanese ability my manager asked me to find a good coffee shop to hang out at for our next meeting. I was already set for hiking and far flung adventures in the big city about two hours drive away. But this helped me to focus on the local and get started discovering the pretty cool people and things that were right there in my neighborhood.

Kissatens are everywhere and they have a normal menu of a cup of coffee or tea, some snacks, and breakfast and lunch items. They are usually locally owned and operated as a kind of hobby most of the time, but some people do make their livings this way and there are some chain Kissatens as well. The local Kissatens are usually kind of Mom and Pop like establishments. So nothing too fancy, but usually very comfortable and a little worn down. But that gives them their own unique character. The owner operators are also usually very friendly, especially in the far countryside, and are happy if you try to chat in Japanese.

Find the Coffee Roaster!

I was very surprised to find that one of these Kissatens specialized in roasting their own coffee beans! Their stuff was a little more expensive and a lot more delicious. The Hang Out Kissaten had been found.

Because these places are often locally owned, the owners get creative to attract customers. And some of them create truly excellent local brands of coffee by roasting their own beans and trying very hard to put together a coffee shop with beautiful interior design, especially the younger guys.

Get Started Exploring the Local

Hunting for your local Hang Out Kissaten is a great way to get out and discover what is around you. It is also a chance to hang out with friends. Whenever I saw a promising new place I would usually call up a friend working nearby and get some coffee and chat there. One place I came across this way was making a kind of alcohol in the back by pickling whole super poisonous snakes in the high alcohol Sake. A local specialty. Hunting Kissatens Hang Outs with friends gives you some social courage and it is a good excuse to socialize, and the owners are also somewhat more relaxed as well.

By focusing on the local things you can discover old temples and shrines in the areas where you work and live. My time here in Japan became richer in experience and friendships, and finding good shopping places, by getting to know what was immediately around me very well. And keeping an open mind about what I discovered.

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