About
Kayaba Coffee is a working piece of Yanaka’s pre-war streetscape, not a retro reconstruction. The cafe opened in 1938 inside a two-story wooden townhouse, closed after the original owner’s death and returned in 2009 through a local preservation effort.
The revived menu keeps its kissaten center: a thick tamago sando, anko butter toast and the Rusian, a house blend of coffee and cocoa. These are simple orders, but they belong naturally to the curved counter downstairs and tatami room above.
The second floor requires shoes off and rewards an early arrival; the cafe does not take reservations and weekend waits are common.
Highlights
- A 1938 Yanaka kissaten revived by local preservation work
- Original counter and upstairs tatami seating
- House Rusian drink and classic egg sandwich
What to order
- Tamago sando — Thick bread around a dashimaki-style egg filling.
- Rusian — The cafe’s long-running coffee-and-cocoa house drink.
Good to know
- Kayaba Coffee is walk-in only, and weekend queues can be substantial.
- Remove your shoes for the second-floor tatami room.
- Approach from Nippori for a Yanaka walk, or from Sendagi for the shorter station connection.
Opening hours
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Thursday | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Friday | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Saturday | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Sunday | 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
Getting there
Kayaba Coffee is in Ueno, Tokyo. Use the embedded map or Google Maps route for current transit and walking directions to 6-chōme-1-29 Yanaka, Taito City, Tokyo 110-0001, Japan.
Open route in Google Maps ↗Frequently asked questions
Is Kayaba Coffee an original old cafe?
The business dates to 1938; it reopened in 2009 after local preservation work retained key parts of the building and menu.
Where should I sit?
The curved ground-floor counter is convenient, while the second-floor tatami room offers the strongest sense of the old townhouse.