Not Just Another Coffee Shop

I’ve been passing it for a long time, but I’d never gone in. It isn’t that I didn’t want to; just that I never seemed to find the time. But yesterday I finally had coffee in a quant little coffee shop in Mitaka.

There are no shortage of coffee shops in Tokyo; we have more than our fair share of all the Seattle greats: Starbucks, Tully’s, and Seattle’s Best. We also have a lot of great Japanese ones, like Doutor and Excelsior Cafe. But this is a small one, and the atmosphere is completely different from a chain. The customers and the staff seemed to know each other. I felt like I was entering a community of people who seemed to know each other. It was nice.

One of my goals this year is to be more social and enjoy myself more. One way of doing that is by becoming a regular at more small, “mom and pop” places. I want to try new things, and meet new people. That isn’t always easy in a city like Tokyo. Everyone is so busy. And no, I don’t want to spend all of my free timing hanging out with people who just want to use me for free English tutoring…

I think most people’s image of Tokyo is an endless sea of skyscrapers and neon signs. And there are many. But there are also many small, friendly shops, in back streets and neighborhoods, just waiting to be discovered…