Backyard Coffee and Jazz in Kyoto

Love it. I would have loved to stumble across that on my trip. I also googled for coffee but the only place open early enough near me was 7-11. Most seem to open ar 12pm for some reason. I was slightly out of downtown to the north. But had a similar experience with a restaurant. It didn't look like this and was more conventional but it did feel like we were guests at someone's home rather than a restaurant and the food was fantastic. It felt different to the normal! I've had that experience in London too but it is very uncommon there. I think the true quirk exists in every city but you have to hunt it down more in western cities.

Craft coffee is a luxury item that isn't part of Japanese culture in the same way that it is in the west. In the early morning, when you're a salaryman trying to get to work as fast as possible, you get coffee from a vending machine or convenience store. Craft coffee is something to enjoy leisurely, which is why most specialty coffee shops don't open until much later than we're used to