6 popular cafes recommended in Aizu Wakamatsu
In Aizuwakamatsu City, there are many retro coffee shops in warehouses and Western-style buildings, as well as stylish cafes where you can relax and unwind. Here are six recommended stores, ranging from those that specialize in coffee and sweets to those where you can enjoy lunch.
1Aizu Ichibankan
Fragrant watered coffee and homemade cakes
A coffee shop on the ground floor of the "Hideyo Noguchi Seishunkan." Surrounded by antique European furniture and furnishings, it is a relaxing space that has been loved by locals since its establishment in 1976. The pride of the shop is its Dutch coffee (mizu-dashi coffee) made from home-roasted beans and slowly brewed with spring water from Mt. It goes well with savory toast and hearty sandwiches. We also recommend the cakes handmade in the store. The "Sakekasu Pudding," made with sake lees imported from a local sake brewery, is characterized by its rich aroma and smooth texture.
A historical spot where you can touch the footsteps of great people
The Western-style warehouse was built in 1884. It was once a hospital called "Kaiyo Clinic," and is known as the place where Hideyo Noguchi underwent surgery at the age of 16 on his left hand, which was burned when he was a child, and where he was awakened to the study of medicine. As the coffee shop is located in a place associated with him, the coffee is well stocked with coffee from Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, and other Latin American countries that Hideyo Noguchi visited for his research on yellow fever. Coffee cups and teacups with illustrations of Hideyo Noguchi and his wife Mary are also available for purchase.
The second floor is also home to a Hideyo Noguchi museum, which can be visited for a 100 yen admission fee.
- Aizu Ichibankan
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4-18 Nakamachi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture MAP
12 minutes walk from JR Nanokaicho Station.
Take a bus from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station and get off at "Hideyo Noguchi Seishunkan-mae" (Hideyo Noguchi Youth Museum).
8:00-20:30 (L.O. 20:00)
No holidays
0242-27-3750
Free of charge
2Sake Brewery Cafe "Anzu (Kyou)
Taste iced coffee and sweets unique to a sake brewery
Aizu Wakamatsu City, a sake brewery, is dotted with historic sake breweries. The Suehiro Sake Brewery Kaeigura in Nisshinmachi is one of them, and inside the brewery, built in 1892, is a stylish café where you can taste four kinds of Suehiro Sake and sweets made from sake.
We recommend the Daiginjo Chiffon Cake for its moist texture. Each bite of the cake is a fan favorite, with the gorgeous aroma of sake and the flavor of the anglaise sauce intertwining with each other. Also very popular is the iced coffee served in the style of Masuzu sake, using sake brewing water.
Relax and unwind in the atmospheric interior.
In addition to sweets made with sake, the restaurant offers a wide variety of Japanese and Western dishes such as "pear tart," "fromage (cheese mousse)," "zenzai" and "kurimu anmitsu. Enjoy a relaxing time in the restaurant's beautiful Japanese-style interior, with its beautifully openworked transoms and round windows.
Suehiro Sake Brewery also offers free guided tours every hour, where you can learn about the sake brewing process and see the brewery.
- Sake brewery café "Kyou
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- Inside Suehiro Sake Brewery, 12-38 Nisshinmachi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture MAP
- 8 minutes walk from JR Nanokaicho Station
- Take a bus from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station, get off at Yamato-cho and walk about 1 minute.
- 10:00-18:00 (L.O. 17:30)
- Wednesdays (open if Wednesday is a national holiday)
- 0242-27-0002
- Free of charge
3Aizu Aoi Silk Road Civilization Museum
A popular menu with a twist on long-established confections
Located near "Tsurugajo" castle, this café bar is affiliated with the long-established Japanese sweets store "Aizu Aoi." At lunch time, you can enjoy hot sandwiches with homemade meat sauce and tartar sauce as well as pasta whose contents change with the seasons.
A recommended sweet is the "Otona no Rum Aizu Aoi," a famous confectionary "Aizu Aoi" made of sponge cake with sweet bean paste sandwiched between two pieces of sponge cake, soaked in rum and served with fresh cream. Aizu Aoi" Japanese sweets are also available for purchase on the first floor.
A cozy café with a fusion of different cultures
The exterior is a unique combination of stone walls and bricks. Inside the store, old wood from a Meiji-era storehouse is used, and the candy-colored wood floors and thick beams are a sight to behold. According to the master, he named the restaurant "Silk Road" as a symbol of a place where various cultures mix. The softly-lit lights are Middle Eastern in style, but there are also many Asian furnishings, and the round chairs at the counter are decorated with Aizu cotton cushions, creating a perfect fusion of various countries' tastes. On weekend nights, it is open as a bar.
- Aizu Aoi Silk Road Civilization Museum
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- 4-6 Otemachi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture MAP
- Approximately 8 minutes from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station by car
- Take a bus from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station and get off at Tsurugajo Iriguchi bus stop.
- Monday-Friday 11:00-19:00, Saturday, Sunday, national holidays from 10:00 *Winter hours: 11:00-16:00, bar time after 19:00 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
- Closed on weekends and holidays
- 0242-27-1001
- Free of charge
4Adria Kitademaru Cafe
A café with a full menu that is easy to stop by during sightseeing
The café serves lunch and sweets, as well as natural wine, local sake, and other alcoholic beverages. The café is conveniently located near Tsurugajo Castle, making it a great place to stop by on your way to see the sights.
The cheesecake is especially recommended. It looks like a baked cheesecake, but you can enjoy the moist and rich texture of a rare cheesecake. Why not try it with aromatic coffee made with beans from Julius Meinl, a long-established Austrian roastery?
The symbol of the restaurant is a monument of a large zelkova tree.
The store has a high ceiling and an open atmosphere. A monument made of a single large zelkova tree stands at the center of the natural interior with its abundant use of wood. The zelkova was a natural monument estimated to be 1,000 years old that stood at Mikurima Shrine in Higashiyoshino Village, Nara Prefecture, but after the tree fell, it was displayed in the restaurant due to various reasons. Inside the restaurant, visitors can enjoy a relaxing tea or meal while feeling the serenity created by the large zelkova tree. There is also terrace seating, which is also popular. In spring, the rows of cherry blossom trees along Kitademaru stretch out before your eyes.
- Adria Kitademaru Cafe
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- 4-28 Otemachi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan Kitademaru-kan 1F MAP
- Approximately 8 minutes from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station by car
- Take a bus from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station and get off at Tsurugajo Iriguchi bus stop.
- 10:00-18:00 (L.O. 17:30)
- Mondays (open if Monday is a national holiday, closed the following day)
- 0242-27-3600
- Free of charge
5Coffee house Kura
The signature item, "Pan Gratin," is a hearty dish.
Located in the center of Aizu Wakamatsu City, this coffee shop was renovated from a warehouse built in the Meiji era and has been loved by men and women of all ages since its establishment in 1976. A must-try here is the "Pan Gratin with Shrimp in White Sauce. The creamy sauce goes well with the fluffy bread.
The restaurant also offers a wide variety of cakes, parfaits, and other sweets. The "green tea parfait," in particular, offers the perfect harmony of bittersweet green tea ice cream, plenty of fruit, and grains of sweet bean paste.
A fun store with antiques and retro sundries
The interior of the store is divided into three different areas, each with a different atmosphere. To the left is a lacquered counter and sunken hearth seating area with a large fishing flag embedded in the floor and decorated with carved wooden masks and a large statue of the Kannon (Goddess of Mercy).
The second floor is a hut-like space with the warmth of wood. The interior, with its mix of old Japanese and Western items, is like a small museum where you can spend a relaxing time.
- Coffee House Kura
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- 4-20 Naka-machi, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture MAP
- 12 minutes walk from JR Nanokaicho Station.
- 8:00-20:00
- No holidays
- 0242-27-3791
- Charged
6Cafe Yuinoba
A weekend café by a ceramic artist where you can enjoy both food and tableware
Aizu Misato Town in Onuma County is the home of "Aizu Hongo Pottery" dotted with pottery and porcelain kilns. One of the kilns, Kinoto Kobo, opens its café only on weekends, attracting many visitors from far away.
All of the dishes used in the store are made at Ki-no-tone Kobo. The use of utensils and the presentation of dishes are also very creative, making the dishes visually pleasing to the eye. The "Salad Lunch," a long plate with pretzels imported from Germany, local vegetables, and prosciutto ham salad, and the "Fruit Ice Cream Parfait," served in a small bowl, are especially popular.
People gather here in search of delicious and wonderful things.
The café originally started as a limited-time event, but after a chance encounter with people in the food and beverage industry and artists of sundry goods and ceramics, the weekend café was opened near the studio in 2005. The name "Yuinoba" means "a place of yui" (connection) that brings people together.
The building was once used as a workshop for Aizu Hongo pottery, so the lighted windows are low, allowing the sunlight and the greenery outside to be felt moderately. The store also sells ceramics, clothing, and sundry goods made by the artist, which also attracts attention.
- Cafe Yuinoba
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- 3182-5 Aza-Setomachi Kou, Aizu Misato-cho, Onuma-gun, Fukushima MAP
- 16 minutes walk from JR Aizu Hongo Station
- Take a bus from JR Aizuwakamatsu Station Terminal, get off at "Setomachi" and walk 1 minute.
- Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays: 10:00-17:00 (some days close early depending on conditions)
- Monday-Friday
- 0242-56-5098（Junoto Kobo)
- Free of charge
Local Guide who was in charge of this article
- Kaisei Goto Ramen Boys in Aizu
