Kaigara Cafe in Johnson Town, aka Little America, is an instagrammable cafe all year round, but particularly when they put up their mini umbrella sky for rainy season. According to the official Instagram account the cafe was modeled on a sea theme. Thus the cafe is decorated in shades of blue with shellfish and natural wood trimmings.
Kaigara ‘Coffee Room’ aka Cafe
Kaigara is one of several coffee shops in Johnson Town – the Little America of Saitama Prefecture. The full name of the coffee shop is Kaigara Kissashitsu 貝殻喫茶室. You may have heard of a ‘kissaten’, a tea drinking shop that also serves coffee. A Kissashitsu is a variation of that. Which translates more directly to tea room in English, but Kaigara is actually a coffee shop, so a coffee room!
Each summer Kaigara cafe put up a little, tiny umbrella sky. In 2023, it went up on May 23rd. The pastel shades of purple and blue colored umbrellas adorn the roof of the porch. The sea blue frosted glasses in which the beverages are served are a perfect match for the colorful hanging ornaments. Kaigara Cafe is picturesque all year round, with its seaside invoking beach hut design. The atypical view of white clapboard houses in the same laneway is quite photogenic. Inside is quite fetching too, also done in shades of blue. But it is particularly picturesque outside when the umbrella sky is up!
The Menu
They do serve some food as well as beverages. But I have not tried the food personally. The menu wasn’t actually very well promoted in or outside the coffee room. I only realized they sell food, as I was ordering. I had perused a menu outside and then when I went in to order there was a delightful smell coming from the kitchen! So I looked around for a proper menu and found that they have light meals and curry. The menu outside seemed to be just for the drinks.
The drinks are well promoted. It was what attracted me to the place (other than the umbrella sky) in the first place! The float, which has a plastic food sample displayed outside, is what grabbed my attention initially, but on closer inspection of the drink menu, it was the marshmallow coffee that vied for my attention. However, it is one of the places that I found overpriced. The coffee you can see in the photo above, a marshmallow topped latte, was 650 yen (summer 2022). I didn’t mind paying it to sit under the umbrellas, especially as I had the veranda to myself, but I am not sure its worth that price otherwise!
Umbrella Sky
I researched the umbrella sky when I got home. From what I can tell, it is put up every June for the summer, for the last four or five years anyway. Interestingly, they seem to put it up again over Christmas! They also have a Christmas tree during the Christmas period. In 2023, the umbrella sky will up from May 23rd.
Cafe Information
Called Kaigara Kissa Shitsu or 貝殻喫茶室 on Google Maps, but Kissa Kaigara on the official Instagram. The cafe is located in Johnson Town, Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture.
Address: 1 Chome-2-22 Azumacho, Iruma, Saitama 358-0002. View on Google Maps.
Phone: 042-935-3686
Hours: 9 am to 6 pm Saturdays to Wednesdays, closed every Thursday and they close some Fridays too.
They don’t have an official website, they use Instagram as a web page.
Access
Johnson town is about a twenty minute walk from Seibu Ikebukuro Line’s Irumashi station. If you are coming by car, Kaigara does not have its own parking lot as far as I know. But there is a coin parking lot for Johnson Town on the south east of the housing estate. Parking is charged, but the first half hour is free. It costs 200 yen for an hour on a weekday and for half an hour on the weekend. However, it is capped at 800 yen total on a weekday and 1000 yen total on the weekend.
there’s a little America in Saitama??? There had better be a Little Australia!!! Or I will feel personally discriminated against!
We’ll have to make one just for you!? Unfortunately right now there’s just a Little America, a Korea town and a slice of Finland!!