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Mar 16 2016 18 Comments

A tiny Tokyo coffee shop and its elderly owner

Coffee Amikane doesn’t open very often, or indeed for very long. Just Tuesdays and Saturdays. From 7am to around 9. There are only 6 seats too. And drinks-wise, you can have coffee. That’s it. No size options. No flavours. No fancy embellishments. Just coffee. But when you are nearing 90 and still working, that’s presumably more than enough to worry about.

tiny Tokyo coffee shop

Categorized: Food and Drink, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Japan Snapping says

    3/16/2016 at 8:37 am

    Extraordinary little place. I guess the big question is, how was the coffee?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 4:50 pm

      The sad answer is, I don’t know. Found the place online, and opening hours of 7 til 10 were the general consensus. Being quite a distance from home, getting there for 7 was just silly. So I turned up just after 9, thinking that if it was full I’d still have time to wait and get a seat. But the old lady had stopped serving at 9. So while I did get a shot, it sadly wasn’t a caffeine related one…

      Reply
  2. john says

    3/16/2016 at 11:13 am

    It helps to simplify, and that certainly reduces the chance of giving someone the wrong drink.
    The ageing population of Japan certainly still seem to be putting the hours in here and there although I’m guessing those aren’t fourteen hour shifts!! Even so.. 7am ..that’s early!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 4:53 pm

      It does. Makes ordering easier too I guess, as there’s no need to deliberate at all.

      Haha, I perhaps should have clarified that. No, just 2 hour shifts.

      Oh, and it’s near Tsukiji fish market, hence the early start — and finish.

      Reply
  3. Hans ter Horst says

    3/16/2016 at 3:39 pm

    Again, a very nice and surprising detail of Japanese society that most people would just walk past, love it!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 4:54 pm

      Yes, one of those wonderful place that it’s all too easy to miss. The kind of place that a lot of the coverage on Japan misses too…

      Reply
  4. Willy says

    3/16/2016 at 7:42 pm

    great. just great.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 10:01 pm

      What a place eh? Wonderful that such businesses still exist.

      Reply
  5. Al says

    3/16/2016 at 9:16 pm

    That’s a coffee shop I’d love to visit. So cozy! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 10:01 pm

      Yes, you don’t get much cosier!

      Reply
  6. cdilla says

    3/16/2016 at 9:45 pm

    It is wonderful that such places survive – but for how long. The owners don’t seem to have anyone to take over a lot of the time.
    You manage to capture moments surrounded by so much detail.
    The two red and white paper cranes in the plastic box. The little Eiffel tower.
    The NASA ISS/Shuttle patches: The bottom one is from mission STS-92 , one of the flights JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata was on – I wonder if he is a relative, or was once a patron.
    And the lovely shot of the lady in full smile.
    I have just had a most enjoyable a cup of coffee while exploring your photograph, which feels appropriate. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 10:07 pm

      Glad to hear you enjoyed looking at it so much. Those little details all help to make the story of the place, don’t they? Or at least provides points of speculation.

      But yeah, how long it will survive all depends on the owner. And she sadly can’t keep working forever. A few of the little bars I’ve photographed have already gone. Most of the others will eventually also follow suit, as like you say, there’s nobody to take over…

      Reply
  7. Grant says

    3/16/2016 at 10:13 pm

    What a great find. What working hours too! I’d be very happy with those!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/16/2016 at 10:19 pm

      Yes, very agreeable. Would be very pleased with them myself. But now that is, not when I’m nearly 90!

      Reply
  8. Lin says

    3/17/2016 at 3:58 pm

    Great find! I really like the idea that she serves only coffee. For someone like me who is way too indecisive, it’s perfect!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/17/2016 at 7:25 pm

      It certainly cuts out any dithering, but not ideal if you don’t like coffee!

      Reply
  9. melissa says

    3/18/2016 at 3:56 pm

    i don’t know whether to be sad or to be inspired. it’s interesting how comments so far have been positive but yet all i see is decrepitude? perhaps the japanese value independence and industry more than i can ever comprehend. i guess having grown up in asia must give me a jaundiced view on life. another great picture nevertheless.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      3/19/2016 at 12:46 pm

      Thanks.

      Yes, that’s a good call. Always interesting to hear how people interpret a picture differently. My take was that as she clearly seems to be opening up the shop because she wants to, it’s something she enjoys. And as such a positive.

      Reply

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