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Best Cafés in Kyoto (2026)

Kyoto has one of the richest café cultures in Japan, with traditional kissaten coffee houses that have served the city for generations alongside newer specialty roasters. Inoda Coffee Honten, founded in 1940, opens at 7:00 for breakfast and nel-drip coffee in a townhouse-style building, while Francois Kissaten, opened in 1934, is a salon-style coffee house that was the first café in Japan registered as a cultural property. Rokuyosha on Kawaramachi has two floors run by members of the same family, each roasting and brewing in its own way.

Tea is just as important. Saryo Tsujiri, above the Gion Tsujiri shop on Shijo-dori, serves matcha parfaits and other green tea sweets and is open into the evening. Kaikado Café near Shichijo, run by a family of tea caddy makers, roasts its own coffee and serves artisan sweets, and % Arabica's Higashiyama flagship is a popular stop for a latte on the way to Yasaka Pagoda. Queues are common at the best-known places, especially at weekends, so go early in the day. Several historic coffee houses have house rules, such as cash only or limits on laptops, so check before you settle in.

6 places · Updated October 23, 2026

Our top 3 cafés in Kyoto

  1. Inoda Coffee Honten Historic coffee house, NakagyoThe flagship of a Kyoto coffee house founded in 1940, serving nel-drip coffee and breakfast from 7:00 in a townhouse-style building with more than 200 seats.
  2. Francois Kissaten Historic coffee house, Shijo KiyamachiA salon-style coffee house opened in 1934 beside the Takase River, the first café in Japan to be registered as a Tangible Cultural Property.
  3. Saryo Tsujiri Gion Honten Matcha sweets tea room, GionThe original tea salon of Gion Tsujiri, a Uji tea merchant founded in 1860, serving matcha desserts above its Shijo-dori tea shop since 1978.

Café

4. Kaikado Café

Café and coffee roastery$$Shichijo

A café run by the family behind Kaikado's handmade tea caddies, serving its own roasted coffee, Japanese tea and artisan sweets near Shichijo.

View details — Kaikado Café

Café

6. Rokuyosha Coffee

Kissaten coffee house$Kawaramachi

A family-run kissaten on Kawaramachi-dori near Sanjo with a ground-floor café and a basement counter, both serving coffee from beans roasted by the family.

View details — Rokuyosha Coffee