Showa-Style Coffee Shop Attracts Customers with ‘Naporitan’ Pasta Dish in Japan’s Utsunomiya

By Hiraku Iwasaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

20:00 JST, September 15, 2025

UTSUNOMIYA — After you walk a short distance from the neon lights of the many izakaya pubs and bars lined up in the center of Utsunomiya, a small coffee shop comes into sight.

At the jingle of a bell as you open the door, the owner of Kissa Frisco, Yasuyo Takahashi, 54, greets you with a smile.

The interior features plaster walls, stained glass lamps and a pendulum clock. In Takahashi’s words, “The concept is a coffee shop in the Showa era,” and the shop is brimming with nostalgia. She created this atmosphere by recalling her childhood memories.

First, I ordered the popular “Frisco set,” which includes a serving of naporitan — a Japanese-devised pasta dish — a soda float and a cup of homemade pudding. The set is priced at ¥2,000 including tax.

Above all, the trio of dishes looks visually excellent. Though it used to be considered nothing special, people now think its nostalgic appearance is fresh, and customers are always taking photos of it with their smartphones.

The naporitan was served on a silver plate. The relatively thick pasta noodles had a sticky texture, and the ketchup sauce coating them brought out their sweetness. The rich flavor of bacon and the bitterness of green bell pepper formed a nice accent.

I was honestly impressed to think that naporitan could be so delicious like this.

Takahashi is from Urawa Ward, Saitama. When she was a child, her greatest joy was to be taken to a coffee shop on a shopping street.

Soon she began dreaming of opening her own coffee shop in the future.

In 2018, she opened one in Ohtawara, Tochigi Prefecture,  which she moved to the current location in 2023.

She runs the shop with her 52-year-old husband, Takahiro, and 20-year-old son, Yoma.

Though there are only 16 seats, the calm atmosphere has attracted customers. Koki Kikuta, a 56-year-old regular, said with a smile, “It’s such a comfortable place.”

Takahashi said that many of the customers on weekends and holidays are tourists. She laughed and said, “It seems many of these customers come here because they come [to Utsunomiya] to eat gyoza.”

Word of her coffee shop has spread via social media, and there have been young couples among the customers, she said.

How interesting that a retro coffee shop is attracting young people through the very latest tools.

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Kissa Frisco

Address: 3-6 Izumicho, Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture

Access: A 10-minute walk from Tobu Utsunomiya Station. From JR Utsunomiya Station, catch a bus at the west exit of the station and get off at Kencho-mae stop or Tobueki-mae stop and then walk five minutes.

Hours: From 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Wednesdays. Only cash accepted.