This sweet little find in Nishijin is not far from my house and serves the best coffee for miles. The characters used in its name ‘Togenkyo’ mean ‘escape from reality’, and the friendly café owner tells me that was essentially what he was trying to do when he set up his café. One wall is stacked floor to ceiling with old LPs, which get cranked out on the crackling record player all day long, and no one is ever in a hurry.
The other day I was in there and heard him spend over an hour sharing his knowledge with a young customer who was debating whether to open his own café. He talked about the practicalities of initial set up costs, location etc, but said “in the end it comes down to how you want to spend your days. If you want to be your own boss, master of your own time, work at your own pace and have engaging conversations with different people every day, then having your own café is perfect.”
I’m almost tempted myself…
How about you? Have you ever had a secret dream of running your own café? I wonder what yours would be like…
