Too early. I recently moved back to Japan for work, and although I am new to Tokyo (used to live in Kansai in 2019) I didn’t expect for coffee shops to close at 6PM or 7PM! I am 2 stations away from one of the main city/wards, and I am not expecting them to close at 12MN or 24/7 like the good old prepandemic days, but 6PM or 7PM is just ridiculous. I even saw one that closes at 4PM.
My shift ends at 7PM if I don’t need to do overtime, but by the time I am out it’s all bars/izakayas/ramen shops and no coffee shops around my apartment. Is the pandemic curfew still in place? If not, did they just not bother hiring baristas for the night shift?
I know it’s a silly thing to rant about, but I was just hoping for a relaxing and sober Saturday evening after cleaning the apartment and doing errands.
ETA: Thank you for all of your suggestions! Some even tried to google map my area and found good alternatives. (People were starting to think I was trolling so I sent the coffee shops’ map link to those who wanted to help, just to let them know I wasn’t trying to waste anyone’s time.) The 夜カフェ suggestion also worked! I found a couple open until 22:00, so I am excited to check them out tomorrow! Seriously, I know this is such a small thing, but you guys just made my day-to-day living a bit easier, been struggling to feel at home since I moved here so even just getting to do a bit of my old routine (go to work, go to a cafe before coming home, go home to work on my side projects) is making me a lot less homesick. 🙂
22 comments
Probably because there isn’t the demand. If you want late coffee go to a chain
Live in a small area?.
The majority of the places I want to go, have their pre COVID hours, some may not be 24/7 anymore, but open late.
Because you live in nowheresville… Population you.
My local Starbucks closes at 10pm.
After that you can go to McDonalds or 24 hour family restaurants.
It’s simply lack of demand where you live. Go to one in a busier area then head home.
Probably because there isn’t much demand. People go to izakaya or bars in the evening when they want to relax, not a coffee shop. Students or people studying or working late will go to a cheap chain restaurant. It’s not exactly good to drink coffee in the evening anyway. You’re not supposed to drink caffeine within 6 hours of when you want to go to sleep as it will disturb your sleep/make it difficult to sleep.
Starbucks is near my place but it is crowded. I usually go to Veloce.
chain places not in demand close early
Most people don’t drink coffee after 4pm ish, otherwise it’s pretty bad for sleep and stress.
Japan is bizarre. Similarly, everywhere opens so late. I’m used to the big supermarkets opening at 6:00 ~ 6:30 back home but here most of the time I have to wait till 9 ~ 10.
A quick google search now .. I couldn’t find a Dotour that closes before 9pm, with a few open til 10:30..
are you being fooled because of dimmer lighting? Many shops are darker now with soaring electricity prices
I am thinking the same ,I remember some expensive ones open until 9:00pm
This might just be the shops you are wandering past or the area you are in.
St. Marc / Choco Cro – many locations open until 10pm.
Tully’s – many locations open until 9:30pm
doutor – many locations open until 9:30pm
All three of these are within 9 minute walk of my apartment and I can verify they are open that late. There are also a couple little indie coffee shops that are open until 8:30pm. And there is another indie, 3 minutes by train from me that is open until 11pm.
I’m not even in Shibuya or Shinjuku, but up on Chuo in Suginami.
Have you tried Pronto? That’s like half coffee half bar depending what you want could be good
where i live theyre closed by 5 or 6
Uhm.. Segadfredo is open until 23:00 and serves both excellent coffee and Alcohol.
The thing that always gets me is bakeries. On the rare occasions that I’m up at the crack of dawn, I revert to my old instincts and hit one up, only to find they don’t open until 10 or 11 in the morning.
Open up ur own cafe!
You can try searching for “夜カフェ” and see if anything’s in your area.
Also, 24h manga cafes like Kaikatsu Club might be an option. The coffee is generic drink bar stuff, but having your own little space and reading a book or two, studying, etc…. It’s not too bad.
My South European self would normally be enraged by this post. Who drinks coffee after 5pm? But after living here for a while I’m used to a conbini coffee to sober up before going back if ramen is not involved. Other than that my local starbucks is open until 10pm and I think that’s pretty fair for a coffee shop.
Thank you for all of your suggestions! Some even tried to google map my area and found good alternatives. (People were starting to think I was trolling so I sent the coffee shops’ map link to those who wanted to help, just to let them know I wasn’t trying to waste anyone’s time.) The 夜カフェ suggestion by u/slightlysnobby also worked! I found a couple open until 22:00, so I am excited to check them out tomorrow! Seriously, I know this is such a small thing, but you guys just made my day-to-day living a bit easier, been struggling to feel at home since I moved here so even just getting to do a bit of my old routine (go to work, go to a cafe before coming home, go home to work on my side gigs) is making me a lot less homesick. 🙂
Close late? Blasphemy, the problem is that they open too late! Try to find a cafe that is open at 7 or 8 am, impossible! In my home country cafes open early and people go there to take a coffee before work. Here good luck, usually they open at 10-11.