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The 57 Best Cafés in Japan

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The best cafés in Japan, according to the experts: the Michelin Guide, the World Coffee Map, and The Infatuation have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. here Kyoto comes out on top, and the good stuff runs deepest in Tokyo and Kyoto.

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Mill Pour Coffee and Okaffe Kyoto hold the next two places. The World Coffee Map shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Eater next.

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  1. Rice cooked in clay pots anchors the menu at this quiet Kyoto dining room, where a Michelin-starred chef trained in both ryotei and kappo kitchens before opening something more personal. The cooking is rooted in dashi and vegetables, with cold and warm side dishes that shift the mood gently course by course. It reads as restrained until you notice how precisely every detail has been placed. Reservations are not optional.





  2. Rank 5. graf

    Coffee

























  3. A New York roaster that planted a flag in Osaka's quieter Kitahama district, this specialty coffee shop leans into minimalist design and natural light in a way that makes laptops appear almost as often as flat whites. The pour-overs get the attention they deserve, and the baristas can actually explain why. A good place to remember that Osaka has neighborhoods where nothing is especially loud.






  4. Rank 28. Sniite

    Coffee



  5. Rank 36. Alt

    Coffee










  6. Rank 45. Chatei Hatou

    Japanese Café







  7. Rank 51. Coffee L'ambre

    Traditional Japanese Café


    Address
    3-chōme-31-3 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0022, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Open now, until 11 PM

    Wednesday 9:30 AM–11 PM

    Online
    Website
  8. Rank 51. Wad

    Café

    A teahouse on the second floor of Minamisenba where the first decision is which handmade ceramic bowl you'd like your tea served in. The staff are young and unhurried, the aesthetic is minimal, and the menu pairs sencha or matcha with grilled soy-glazed mochi or shaved ice. It's the spirit of the tea ceremony repackaged for a generation that also wants a good photo, and somehow that's not a complaint.







  9. Address
    3-chōme-1-6 Noda, Fukushima Ward, Osaka, 553-0005, Japan
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 1 PM

    Wednesday 1 PM–7 PM

    Online
    Instagram

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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.

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