One of the reasons I keep returning to Tokyo is to wander quiet neighborhoods in search of tiny stores you can't find anywhere else. In 2018, David and I stumbled upon the Prank Weird Store, located in Kitazawa (see the original location in Google Maps — it moved to Katamata in 2020, but it's now about 20 miles south of Tokyo). It sells used records, underground/counterculture t-shirts, and vintage collectibles. The proprietor seemed to be running it out of his house.
On the same trip, I visited Kyoto, and halfway up a mountain trail, I came across a small espresso shop called Cafe Guu. It felt like magic for this rustic little shack to appear around the corner just as I was in the mood for an espresso.
This morning, I read Addison Del Mastro's essay, "Backyard Coffee And Jazz In Kyoto, Japan," which reminded me of my fascination with tiny shops that make Japan special.
Del Mastro describes being in Kyoto and searching for "coffee" on Google Maps. He found a place called Nijō-koya that was "literally a small shack in someone's driveway, between the street and their house, which serves as a little one-man business. In the daytime, obviously, it's a coffee shop. In the evening, however, it becomes a bar, with some basic beer and whisky offerings."
Del Mastro's photos reveal what looks like a coffee shop set up in a garage.
Del Mastro said the place gave him a feeling of wonder: "That is not a feeling I often feel running errands and going out in America. But it's a feeling that the Japanese business landscape and built environment is able to spark frequently."
I agree! I sad that a coffee place like this would be impossible to get off the ground in the United States because of the regulations. Yes, I know the rules are there for health and safety reasons, but still.
Previously:
• On the horrors of getting approval for an ice-cream parlour in San Francisco
• San Francisco native Jason Yu spent $200,000 trying to open an ice cream shop, but the city's bureaucracy beat him
• Little Free Library in San Francisco threatened after an anonymous complaint
• San Francisco issues a $1402 fine for a Little Library
