my favorite tokyo coffee shops for working

From tiny walk-up stands serving artisanal brews to large chains producing predictable morning cups of joe, Tokyo’s coffee shop scene has something for everyone and every occasion.

Here are my favorite stops for those afternoons when you’re looking to hole up for a few quiet hours with a book or a bit of work.

Niko and…Coffee (Harajuku)

To my right, a DJ with anime-white hair sets up camp with his laptop, mixing music with large headphones clamped over his ears. To my left, a pair of young girls huddle at the counter by the window, talking rapidly, pausing to take bites out of huge fluffy loaves of bread stuffed with cream or chocolate (a treat called “coppe”), and occasionally breaking into fits of high-pitched giggles.

This is Niko and…Coffee, a spacious coffee shop located in a corner of a large clothing and home goods store of the same name in Harajuku. It’s one of the best places I’ve found in Tokyo for such a disparate crowd of Tokyo-ites to come together and spend a relaxed afternoon.

There are a number of four-top tables, a low counter with a magazine median that offers a fair number of stool seats, and a counter along the window for gazing out at the hustle of the shoppers in Shibuya. The two counters offer plugs for each seat — it’s the only coffeeshop I’ve found so far with so many individual plugs. The table seats are, unfortunately, plug-less (and usually less popular).

Coffee and “coppe” are the main offerings here. The coppe bread treat comes with an astounding variety of flavored fillings, both savory and sweet, from chocolate cream to pasta. At 370 yen for an American coffee, it’s also a fairly economical alternative to some of the trendier coffee shops in the area.

Rainy Day Bookstore and Cafe (Nishi-Azabu)

To find Rainy Day Bookstore and Cafe, you first must take a stroll through a purely residential area a few blocks off the main drag in Nishi-Azabu. Tucked into the basement of Switch Publishing, which itself blends in with the residences around it, this little gem of a coffeeshop is well-hidden. And I think that’s fitting with the quiet intimacy that this little cafe specializes in.

After navigating your way down a treacherous winding iron staircase, you find yourself in the cafe in a room that could really double as a trendy graduate student’s loft. Rough-hewn wooden floors, exposed brick walls, bookcases of Switch publications, and even a piano provide that familiar graduate school aesthetic: carefully poised between cloyingly pretentious and heartwarmingly sincere.

A bare-bones staff brings menus, takes orders, makes coffees, and cooks food, as this cafe offers meals (such as chicken curry) as well as the traditional coffeeshop fare of coffees, teas, and cakes. Coffees run around 500 yen. With several four- and two-top chunky wooden tables and one larger group table, the seating is limited but the space to spread out on the tables is ample.

The atmosphere is intellectual and inspiring, and the smell of cooking food lends a hominess to the cafe that is comforting and appealing and, in my opinion, definitely makes up for the less than comfortable wooden seats.

Foredor Cafe (Nishi-Azabu)

In stark contrast to the Rainy Day Bookstore and Cafe, Foredor Cafe in Nishi-Azabu screams out to be noticed. The building looks like a converted warehouse, large, red brick with multi-story green-paned windows. Decorative tile inlays are spotted across the brick.

Inside, Foredor opens up into a spacious two story layout styled to encourage lounging, reading, and chatting. Long coffee tables with sofas offer seating for large groups in addition to the usual two-person tables and chairs.

Fans of movie and video game art will be smitten with the second floor’s impressive library of art and animation books, with titles like The Making of Avatar and The Art and History of Stan Winston Studio.

In a city teeming with coffeeshops passionately dedicated to the science and perfection of their brew, Foredor’s coffee itself is a little underwhelming. They offer a number of sweet coffee concoctions, however, including a chocolate chip cookie latte, that I have not tried.

But this cafe nevertheless makes my list because the impossibly literary ambience is inspiring, the design of the building nurtures my Western penchant for brick-laden beauty and whimsy, and the collection of art books is a unique offering that can liven up a long afternoon of reading or working.

Cafe Chillax (Naka-Meguro)

If you can get past the cringeworthy name, this is a perfect place to spend a few hours on your own.

Lying on a quiet side street in Naka-Meguro, Cafe Chillax is a sprawling affair with an almost lakehouse or cabin feel that is comforting and welcoming. Numerous big tables with umbrellas range across a roaming front porch and side deck area.

Inside, supple leather couches, deep upholstered chairs, or velvet cushioned benches offer remarkably comfortable seating at each table. The tables are low-slung and wide with plenty of room for the clipboard-size menus and any books or laptops you choose to bring.

Resting on my leather sofa and sipping my oolong tea, I feel at home. In the corner opposite me, a grandmother lays her grandson out on a blanket on the large couch beside her. He giggles and squeals as she tickles his toes and coos baby-talk at him. Her coffee table is filled with half-eaten pizza, ginger sodas, shopping bags, and a delicate slice of white cake. At another table, two young men sip coffees and chat, leaning forward casually in their armchairs with elbows rested on knees.

I feel a certain kinship with the other customers as I hang out in this cabin, nestling into my big cozy seat and making my table area my own. Although slightly expensive (around 600 yen for coffee or tea), this cafe’s exquisitely homey atmosphere is too good to pass up.

Lattest Omotesando (Omotesando)

A tall, straight-backed wooden bench that looks plucked straight out of a small-town train station wraps around the room. Small wooden cubes are set in front of it to act as tables. In the middle of the room, a tall wooden counter is laid out under a couple pendant lights, metal stools shoved under it haphazardly.

These are the only seating options in Lattest Omotesando, a coffee shop so self-consciously hipster it almost strains itself in its zeal to let you know that it’s too cool to care what you think. It wears minimalism like a badge of honor. The walls? Whitewashed. The pipes? Exposed. The menu? Just coffee.

For all its airs, though, Lattest Omotesando is, at the end of the day, entirely successful in achieving the laid-back, grungey cool feel of a quintissentially hip urban haunt. Sitting in here without a laptop or a book almost feels wrong. And sitting in here without wearing something black definitely feels wrong.

Lattest Omotesando is known for its Instagram-worthy latte art, but for me, the real art is not in the mugs but in the delicate balance between pretension and perfection that this shop has managed to capture. This balance creates a great environment for a productive afternoon of work — that is, if your butt can handle the harsh seating for more than an hour.

Where is your favorite place to hang out and get some work done in Tokyo?