Cafeography
Fukuoka · Yakuin & Shirogane

Cafés in Yakuin & Shirogane

Fukuoka's specialty-coffee quarter: REC's first shop, Coffee County, Manu's roastery and pancakes.

Photo: Margo Evardson, Pexels License

Yakuin (薬院) lies about 1 km south-southwest of Tenjin's core. The name is traced to a medicinal herb garden that Kibi no Makibi is said to have laid out here when he was posted to Dazaifu in the Nara period.1 Offices line the Jōnan Line road, and the 1- to 4-chōme blocks mix shops with housing; their population rose from 8,965 in 2001 to 15,777 in 2022.1

Shirogane (白金), across the Jōnan Line to the southeast, is quieter: 21 ha, mostly residential, with the prefectural governor's official residence, Shirogane Park and a ginkgo-lined path beside a branch of the Yakuin Shinkawa.2 Fukuoka's third-wave coffee has gathered around Yakuin Station more than anywhere else in the city.3

Local tip: On a weekend, start at Shirogane Sabō at 08:00, then walk to Manu Coffee's Kujira shop at Shirogane 1-18-28, open from 09:00.7

At a glance

75Cafés listed
4With opening hours
08:00Earliest opening
22:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: 白金茶房, from 08:00 (Mon–Fri 10:00–17:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–17:00).
  • Closes latest: area coffie, until 22:00 (Mon 12:00–22:00 · Tue Closed · Wed–Sun 12:00–22:00).
  • Most common features: partial wheelchair access (3%), specialty (3%), outdoor seating (1%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Fukuoka.

Coffee chains in Yakuin & Shirogane

Getting to Yakuin and Shirogane

Nishitetsu Yakuin Station on the Tenjin Ōmuta Line, where limited expresses stop, actually stands in Shirogane. The Nanakuma Line subway has two stations in the area, Yakuin and Yakuin-ōdōri.1

REC Coffee's home ground

REC Coffee started here. Iwase Yoshikazu and Kitazoe Osamu began in 2008 with a coffee truck in Yakuin and opened their first street-level shop by Yakuin Station in 2010; Iwase went on to win the Japan Barista Championship in 2014 and 2015.4 That first shop is at Shirogane 1-1-26, and in 2018 it stayed open until 01:00 or 02:00 every night.5

A second Yakuin shop, at Jōsui Terrace (Yakuin 4-13-60), opened in 2019. In 2023 it kept 08:00–20:00 on weekdays and opened at 09:00 at weekends.4

Coffee County and Manu's roastery

Coffee County Fukuoka is at Takasago 1-21-21, on Shirogane's northeast side, open 10:00–18:30 and closed on Wednesdays.6 Its owner, Mori Takaaki, worked on coffee farms in Nicaragua, opened his roastery in Kurume in 2013, and the Fukuoka bar followed in 2016. The bar pours single origins, mainly from Central America and often bought by direct trade.3

Manu Coffee's Kujira shop, the company's fifth, opened in 2017 in a two-story space with vintage furniture.3 It is at Shirogane 1-18-28 and serves 09:00–19:00 every day.7

Two smaller counters fill out the walk. Stereo Coffee, a multi-roaster café on Watanabe-dōri a few minutes from Yakuin Station, opened in 2015 and pours local and guest roasters such as The Barn, with changing exhibitions upstairs.3 COFFEE & CAKE STAND LULU, near the station, is run by a mother and son and bakes its own cakes.3

Pancakes and early tables in Shirogane

Shirogane Sabō (白金茶房) has served pancakes since 2013 from a two-story house at Shirogane 1-11-7, about 7 minutes' walk from Nishitetsu Yakuin. The batter uses Fukuoka-grown wheat, stone-ground whole wheat flour and soy milk. In 2023 a single classic pancake cost ¥770, the same as a hand drip, and the house blend is roasted by Tokado Coffee.8

Sabō opens at 08:00 at weekends and 10:00 on weekdays, closing at 17:00. Coffee and Up opens at 08:00 every day. area coffie, with outdoor seats, runs 12:00–22:00 and closes on Tuesdays; Umenoma (うめのま), at Watanabe-dōri 3-1-16, closes on Wednesdays.

Sources

  1. 薬院, Wikipedia (Japanese), accessed October 2026
  2. 白金 (福岡市), Wikipedia (Japanese), accessed October 2026
  3. Fukuoka, The Way to Coffee (updated January 23, 2026), accessed October 2026
  4. コーヒーで旅する日本／九州編｜コーヒーショップ、カフェ、喫茶店。人それぞれの捉え方で利用できる場所に。「REC COFFEE」, Walker Plus (April 17, 2023), accessed October 2026
  5. REC COFFEE Yakuin Station Shop, Fukuoka Now (March 29, 2018), accessed October 2026
  6. COFFEE COUNTY, COFFEE COUNTY (official site), accessed October 2026
  7. Shop list, manucoffee (official site), accessed October 2026
  8. 【福岡県・薬院白金】名店「白金茶房」のまん丸なクラシックパンケーキでほっとひと息。気になるテイクアウト情報も, Rurubu & more (updated March 8, 2023), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Fukuoka

Daimyō

53 cafés

Tenjin

76 cafés

Imaizumi & Kego

76 cafés

Ohori Park & Akasaka

54 cafés

In Yakuin & Shirogane, also browse: Open late

FAQ

Yakuin & Shirogane cafés: questions

Where are REC Coffee's Yakuin shops in Fukuoka?

REC Coffee began with a coffee truck in Yakuin in 2008 and opened its first shop by Yakuin Station in 2010, at Shirogane 1-1-26. A second Yakuin shop opened at Jōsui Terrace, Yakuin 4-13-60, in 2019. Co-founder Iwase Yoshikazu won the Japan Barista Championship in 2014 and 2015.

How do you get to Yakuin in Fukuoka?

Nishitetsu Yakuin Station on the Tenjin Ōmuta Line, where limited expresses stop, stands in neighboring Shirogane. The Nanakuma Line subway stops at Yakuin and Yakuin-ōdōri, and Yakuin itself lies about 1 km south-southwest of Tenjin.

What is Shirogane Sabō in Fukuoka known for?

Pancakes. Shirogane Sabō has served them since 2013 from a two-story house at Shirogane 1-11-7, about 7 minutes' walk from Nishitetsu Yakuin Station. The batter uses Fukuoka-grown wheat and soy milk, and in 2023 a classic pancake and a hand drip each cost ¥770. Its blend is roasted by Tokado Coffee.

For café owners

Own a café in Yakuin & Shirogane?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design