Cafeography
Tokyo · Kiyosumi-Shirakawa

Cafés in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa

Canal-side timber warehouses turned roasteries, between Kiyosumi Garden and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Photo: Evgeny Tchebotarev, Pexels License

Kiyosumi-Shirakawa is part of old Fukagawa, east of the Sumida. Canals such as the Kobokume-gawa were dug in the Edo period to bring in timber for the growing city, warehouses for wood and goods lined their banks, and the canal network kept its original shape into the early Shōwa era.3 Kiyosumi Garden, rebuilt from a feudal lord's estate by the Mitsubishi founder Iwasaki Yatarō from 1878, opened to the public in 1932.1

Coffee came through the warehouses. After the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo opened in Kiba Park in March 1995, canal-side warehouses began to be reused as storage and galleries, and roasting cafés followed.23 A 2020 Nihon University survey traced the oldest café still trading to 2004 and found 2015 the busiest year, with eight openings, the year Blue Bottle's arrival brought the media.3

Local tip: Book the tasting course at Koffee Mameya Kakeru ahead, since reservations are required, then walk to Allpress on Hirano 3-chōme.6

At a glance

106Cafés listed
6With opening hours
10:00Earliest opening
00:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: 莫珈琲焙煎所, from 10:00 (Mon–Tue 10:00–19:00 · Thu–Sun 10:00–19:00).
  • Closes latest: Saotome-ke, until 00:00 (Tue–Wed 11:30–15:00, 18:00–00:00 · Fri–Sun 11:30–15:00, 18:00–00:00).
  • Most common features: specialty (7%), smoking allowed (2%), wi-fi (1%).

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Coffee chains in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa

Why the roasters chose the warehouses

The old timber stores had the ceiling height that a roaster's exhaust duct needs, and ducts could be turned toward the canal so the smoke did not bother neighbors.3 Allpress, the New Zealand roaster, found its site in 2013 when staff cycled past a derelict timber warehouse, and refurbished it the following year.4 A curved glass wall now separates its high-ceilinged wholesale roastery from the café, and it roasts with hot air rather than in a drum.4

Allpress has served coffee in the neighborhood since 2014, one of the first foreign roasters to move in.5 It is at 3-7-2 Hirano. Blue Bottle's café and roastery, at 1-4-8 Hirano, opens daily 08:00–19:00 and sells coffee to take away.

Koffee Mameya Kakeru and the tasting course

Koffee Mameya Kakeru, at 2-16-14 Hirano, serves coffee as an omakase (お任せ, "leave it to us") course. A barista leads guests through roasts prepared as cold brew and pour-over, along with milk drinks, cocktails or zero-proof drinks and small sweets, and booking is required.6 Kakeru means "to multiply", and the course is built around teaching.6

In July 2024 Time Out gave the starting price of the tasting courses as ¥2,500.5 The bar opens daily 11:00–18:00.

Other roasters on the canals

iki Roastery & Eatery occupies a converted riverside warehouse with its own bakery and coffee bar.5 Time Out's 2024 list also took in Arise Coffee Roasters, which keeps about ten single-origin beans and seats more customers in a renovated warehouse, and Cream of the Crop Coffee, which serves five hand-dripped roasts and no espresso.5

BAKU Coffee Roasters (莫珈琲焙煎所) opens 10:00–19:00 and closes on Wednesdays. Toward Monzen-Nakachō, Padhinton Café is at 2-9-8 Monzen-Nakachō, and Saotome-ke serves lunch 11:30–15:00 and reopens 18:00–00:00, closed on Mondays and Thursdays.

Kiyosumi Garden and the museum

Kiyosumi Garden is a strolling garden laid around a pond with three islands. About 55 large rocks were brought from across Japan for it, stepping stones cross the shallows, and a stone carries Bashō's haiku of the frog and the old pond.1 Tokyo designated it a Place of Scenic Beauty on 31 March 1979, and it opens 09:00–17:00.1

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, in nearby Kiba Park, holds about 5,700 works by Japanese and international artists in its permanent collection.2

Sources

  1. Kiyosumi Garden, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. 清澄白河の歴史や文化と結びつくカフェまちづくりに関する研究, Nihon University College of Science and Technology (2020), accessed October 2026
  4. Allpress Espresso Tokyo Roastery & Cafe, Papersky (April 6, 2021), accessed October 2026
  5. The best coffee shops in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Time Out Tokyo (July 11, 2024), accessed October 2026
  6. In Tokyo, Exploring The Flavors Of Coffee Omakase, Sprudge (February 26, 2024), accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Kiyosumi-Shirakawa cafés: questions

Why is Kiyosumi-Shirakawa in Tokyo known for coffee?

Its Edo-period canals were lined with timber warehouses, and those buildings had the ceiling height a roaster's exhaust duct needs, with ducts that could be turned toward the water. Reuse began after the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo opened in 1995. Eight cafés opened in 2015 alone, the year Blue Bottle arrived, and Allpress has roasted there since 2014.

What is the coffee omakase at Koffee Mameya Kakeru in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Tokyo?

At Koffee Mameya Kakeru, 2-16-14 Hirano, a barista leads guests through a set course of coffees prepared as cold brew and pour-over, with milk drinks, cocktails or zero-proof drinks and small sweets. Booking is required. Time Out gave the starting price of the courses as ¥2,500 in July 2024, and the bar opens daily 11:00–18:00.

When did Allpress open its roastery in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, Tokyo?

Allpress staff found a derelict timber warehouse while cycling through Kiyosumi-Shirakawa in 2013 and refurbished it the following year; the roastery and café have served the neighborhood since 2014. A curved glass wall separates the wholesale roastery from the café, and the coffee is roasted with hot air. The address is 3-7-2 Hirano.

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