Utsunomiya Kissaten Keeps Showa Atmosphere Alive; Nostalgic Cafe Offers Signature Warm Egg Sandwich, Variety of Coffee Options

By Hiraku Iwasaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

11:00 JST, December 29, 2025

UTSUNOMIYA — The moment you step inside Kohikan Kojo, an old-fashioned kissaten coffee shop founded in Utsunomiya in 1975, it immediately evokes the feeling of having gone back in time. With jazz music playing in the background, the coffee shop is filled with a nostalgic atmosphere. The leather sofa, stained-glass lighting and tableware like plates and spoons have not changed for 50 years. “I always feel relaxed here,” a female customer said.

According to second-generation owner Yukiko Koizumi, 51, there are regulars who have been coming in since Kojo’s opening. “There is no need to modernize the shop,” Koizumi said, adding that young people recently have started to patronize the cafe, possibly having learned about it on social media.

Kojo’s signature items are a warm egg sandwich, priced at ¥600, and coffee topped with chocolate and orange peel at ¥650. Made with Japanese rolled omelet and mayonnaise instead of the typical boiled egg, the sandwich had a light and fluffy taste. The toppings of the coffee are flavored with rum, which compliments the coffee’s slight bitterness.

Customers can choose from a wide variety of coffee options, including one with served with a brandy-soaked sugar cube that is set alight and then dropped and stirred into the coffee once the flame has gone out. The coffee, said to offer a distinct aroma, is priced at ¥1,000.

On its bookshelf sit copies of Weekly Shonen Jump from the 1980s. Seeing the characters on their covers made me reminisce about iconic scenes from manga popular in the late years of the Showa era (1926-89). It added to the feeling of being back in those times.

Despite being the perfect temporary escape from daily life, the number of Showa-era kissaten seems to be on the decline. When asked how she wants to operate Kojo from now on, Koizumi replied, “I won’t change anything. The coffee shop should always stay the way it was.”

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Kohikan Kojo

Address: 1-8-15 Nakatomatsuri, Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture

Access: From JR Utsunomiya Station, catch a bus at the West Exit of the station and get off at the Tochigi Iryo Senta Seimon Mae (Tochigi Medical Center’s main gate) stop. Kohikan Kojo is near the bus stop.

Hours: From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed on Sundays. Only cash accepted.