Visiting one of Japan traditional coffee shops, known as kissaten, is a unique way to start to the day.
For breakfast, many kissaten offer a ¡°morning service,¡± which includes coffee and a small meal ¡ª often with toast, some meat, an egg and a salad. Western food is served, but with a twist: the toast is extra thick, and salads are sometimes prepared with either boiled spaghetti or canned fruit. But it¡¯s not all wonderful; the air inside kissaten is often thick with cigarette smoke.
Japan¡¯s first kissaten, Kahiichakan, opened in 1888 in Ueno, but coffee culture didn¡¯t pick up until after the turn of the century. Originally the so-called morning service included coffee with a small serving of peanuts or a hard boiled egg. As Japan modernized and industrialized ¡ª and as more people took office jobs in the cities ¡ª it evolved into a light breakfast that was ideal for workers on their morning commute.
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