The oldest Kissaten cafe in Nagoya “Matsuba”

Name: Talking with locals in English in Nagoya on March 8th
Start: 2025-03-08T10:10:00+09:00
End: 2025-03-08T11:20:00+09:00
Location: Nagoya city

11/12/2024

Contents

Kissaten culture is originally from Ichinomiya not Nagoya.

I think many readers are not interested in detailed stories about Japan. However, in this blog I will write about some details. Without details, it will be the same as other media showing a boring story like a textbook for getting PV to monetize.

First of all, I would like to tell you about Kissaten(喫茶店). Kissaten’s meaning is a coffee shop or cafe but a little bit different. It is an old and quiet cafe where locals and old people seem to be reading books and newspapers not a chain cafe like Starbucks. Nagoya has a well-developed Kissaten culture and is known for its “morning service”. The morning service is bread boiled eggs and a cup of coffee for the price of a cup of coffee about 500 yen. Most Japanese people think this service started from Nagoya city, however it started from Ichinomiya city next to Nagoya.

Ichinomiya used to be a thriving area for cotton textiles, and there were many factories there. Business negotiations related to cotton textiles　were held at nearby Kissanten to avoid noise from factories.
It is said that one owner of a coffee shop in Ichinomiya began offering snacks as an extra with the coffee of customers having business meetings, and this service became the morning service. Eventually, this service was introduced to Nagoya and became a Nagoya specialty. 

Matsuba, which is introduced on this page, is said to be the beginning of Nagoya's Kissaten culture.

About Matsuba

KIssaten Matsuba is located on the east side of Endoji Shopping streets where one of the famous tourist destination in Nagoya station area including Shikemichi. As I already said, it is the first Kissaten in Nagoya since 1933 and loved by locals.

I went there on Saturday afternoon, and it was busy with customers, and there was only one seat available at the counter.

Various types of coffee beans were displayed at the entrance.　

I had black coffee and pudding.　I could feel the warmth of this coffee shop, which is loved by the locals.

Our map

I’ve compiled a list of Nagoya’s places that I’ve personally visited. Is Nagoya boring? Not at all! While it has developed as an industrial city, it also hides interesting places full of history and culture. Use this guide to explore Nagoya and discover its hidden gems.