...the café caught fire in an unknown cause before dawn of 16th January and over 2million frames of black-and-white photographic negative film I’ve saved for more than 40 years, along with tens of thousands of prints, thousands of copies of more than 40 books I wrote, posters, postcards, my favorite cameras, a hundred and several tens of diaries I’ve kept for 43 years, … [Read more...]
Ran Hotei Cafe – Vintage Taishō Romance & Excellent Cake
On Wednesday I took a walk over to the Sanjo-kai Shōtengai shopping arcade and popped into Randy Channell's machiya cafe Ran Hotei. Randy is well known as a master of Japanese tea ceremony, and he does teach a few tea ceremony classes at Ran Hotei. Mainly though he gives classes at a shrine near the Imperial Palace. So if you are not interested in tea ceremony, that's … [Read more...]
Saganoyu Cafe
If you're in the Saga area, the cafe Saganoyu is a pleasant spot for lunch or a cup of coffee. Originally built as a public bathhouse in 1923, the building has been thoroughly renovated and was reopened as a cafe in 2006. You can still see the original tiling on the floors and the faucets along the walls. … [Read more...]
Papa Jon’s Honten
On Saturday we took a stroll up to the Shimpukan, intending to grab a bite to eat at Papa Jon's Eatery. Unfortunately for us, they were hosting a wedding party. However, very fortunately for us, we bumped into Charles Roche (the owner) on his way out, and he offered us a lift up to the 本店. Nice chap, isn't he? I'd noticed this place on the way to events at Impact Hub but … [Read more...]
Minna no Café: 3.11 Evacuees Plant Roots in Kyoto
Here’s the latest guest post from our friend Jason Bartashius… Before relocating to Kyoto, Ikuko Wagatsuma worked in the clothing department of a supermarket in Minami-Soma, a city devastated by both the tsunami and nuclear crisis. The tsunami wreaked havoc washing away homes and causing hundreds of deaths. Located near to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, … [Read more...]
