Kissaten crawl: Showa-era coffee & classic purin

Before Japan had coffee chains it had kissaten — cafés opened in the Showa era, velvet seats, warm lamps, jazz low in the background, and an owner who has stood behind that counter for forty years brewing one cup at a time. A great many of them are closing now, because the owners are ageing and nobody is taking over.

Two hours across two or three of the survivors. Coffee poured by hand in slow, deliberate circles that feel almost too slow the first time you watch it; or brewed in a glass siphon, water climbing and falling like a chemistry demonstration. With it come the things only a kissaten serves: firm old-style custard pudding under bitter caramel, thick-cut toast the shape of a brick under melting butter, and iced coffee brewed specifically for ice rather than hot coffee left to cool.

Your guide explains where this kind of café came from, why the coffee costs more than a chain's and people still sit all afternoon, and how to order properly. It's gentle, entirely indoors, alcohol-free — good for an afternoon, and good if you're travelling alone.