I moved to Tokyo this year, and while I love it, the city is sometimes very overwhelming. I want to find quieter places in Tokyo where its possible to read a book, drink a coffee, really just enjoy some calm alone time in a place not completely full with people.
I enjoy parks, but as its getting colder I’m looking for more indoor places. Most cafes I’ve been to have been packed and quite loud.
Does anyone have recommendations for non-overwhelming places in Tokyo? Thanks for your thoughts!
17 comments
Where in Tokyo are you?
Local libraries and civic halls are good.
Explore more and you’ll find quieter cafes.
I find cafes attached to museums during quiet periods are the best.
I used to live in Asakusa. If you get away from the tourist areas, there’s a bunch of really nice, quiet 下町 that are wonderful to stroll around with not many people there. Many of them have tons of quiet 昭和っぽい cafes.
Tokyo is a great place to be an introvert. It has all the infrastructure benefits of living in a population dense city but everyone leaves you alone. If you simply don’t like being surrounded by people even if they’re not engaging with you, I guess that’s a different story.
The (many) bookshops around Jinbocho are well worth a browse, *At Wonder* is nice and quiet and has a cafe on the upper floor. Lots of old magazines, periodicals, comics etc from way back.
Sounds like a good excuse to take a walk and explore. Not trying to be flippant, you genuinely might come across what you are looking for because quiet places are typically not well known places so I wouldn’t expect to get many ideas by asking.
I’m also an introvert in Western Tokyo. I typically go for family restaurants in the morning (Jonathan) as they tend to be quite empty between 7AM and 11AM, and there’s free drink bar with the food.
Otherwise, I geared my hobbies towards solitary activity. So astrophotography from home, hiking, and paragliding.
Calm alone time with no people. Try your apartment
Gusto around 10am in the morning. It ain’t elegant, but it’s cheap and plentiful. And they are even replacing the wait staff with robots these days.
Explore and try to find a late night cafe close to you. When I was living in Koenji some 10 years ago my spot was a cozy 2nd floor place called Yonchome Cafe just a couple minutes from the station, I spent many nights there fueling my insomnia with caffeine all by myself.
There are all sorts of places like that scattered around Tokyo.
Also look into cafe’s in the basement floor of office buildings in the more financial/business districts of the city.
My favorite thing it to go to Tocho-mae in Shinjuku and hang out at cafes there. A lot of the office buildings in the areas have restaurant floors in the basement, and because it’s a bit of a walk from Shinjuku station, and all the offices are closed on weekends, it’s really quiet.
Or, I was in Iwamotocho a few Saturdays ago, and I was surprised how dead it was. Buildings and offices everywhere, but on the weekends, really quite. Find a little cafe out there.
Surprisingly, Tokyo has a lot of quiet areas, once you get away from the major stations. Areas like Kudanshita, Jimbocho, Ningyocho, Onarimon, etc. Those areas are full of commercial office buildings, and are really dead on the weekends.
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Just roam around your neighbourhood, explore the area for smaller cafes, tea houses and so on. Take a train to the next mid-size commuter hub and explore that area too. Works well for finding out-of-the-way and quiet cafes that not many know about.
In fact, if I gave you specific recommendations I would risk spoiling those places and I’d have to find new ones for myself. So go out there and find your own secret hidden cafes. It will feel like a great achievement too.
I can’t find it in Google Maps anymore, but there was this one cafe next to Inokashira Park in Kichijōji that tops the bill when it comes to quiet and peace. Talking, laptops, or anything else that could be considered as noisy/distracting is basically not allowed inside. The owner is also very keen on enforcing the rules, which might put some customers off (wouldn’t really wonder if he went out of business tbh). It’s kind of an acquired taste, but I really liked it.
The tama river has lots of open fields with barely anyone in them during the weekdays. Weekends it’s filled with sports activities but still plenty of space