Kissa Seikatsu

kissaseikatsu.jpg
1-6-12 Minami-Koenji, Suginami-Ku
Asagayaminami 1 Chome 15-1 Suginami-ku Tōkyō-to JP

Kissa Seikatsu (喫茶生活 “Cafe Lifestyle”) is a gem of a place a few mins walk from Higashi-Koenji station on the Marunouchi Subway Line. It’s very tiny with less than 10 seats at the counter and two small tables. A lot of floor space is taken up by the huge bags of coffee beans from Ethiopia, Brazil, Indonesia and other spots round the world. Opened in 1998, owner Toda-san is a bit of a coffee specialist and has on offer a bewildering number of blends.

There are a lot of nice album covers on the wall, a rack of magazines, books and board-games for customers to use at will, and the place is non-snoking so it smells gorgeous from all the coffee beans. Kissa Seikatsu is a great joint for some quiet reading or thinking time, just don’t expect much conversation from Toda-san. His direct quote to me was a polite but firm “I don’t really communicate with the customers. Just make the coffee and put on records.” And he does that with no days off as the place is open from 10am to midnight every day of the year.

Size
1-10
Directions

Station: Higashi Koenji – Marunouchi Line

Exit: Exit 1

Distance from station: 2 minutes

Date published
11/14/2011 Updated Feb 2015
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