Japan¡¯s traditional coffee shops ¡ª known as kissaten, which flourished in the 1980s ¡ª are disappearing, eclipsed by specialty drip shops and global chains, and faced with a dwindling number of aging owners.
But in recent years, kissaten and the traditional cafes known as junkissa are coming back to life thanks to a younger generation who sees them as nostalgic, retro destinations of the Showa Era (1926 to 1989).
Photos of decadent parfaits, melon cream sodas and unique interiors have flooded social media. Hashtags such as #junkissa now have roughly 1 million posts. Kissaten are no longer a passing fad, but a staple of social media content for fashionable youth.
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