Koriyama's Dreamy K COFFEE Outside of Osaka

On my recent trip to the Kansai region of Japan, I finally found my dream cafe: K COFFEE.

I had three consecutive days to use my Kansai Thru Pass, and I was going to milk it for every penny it was worth.  Rather than heading straight to Kyoto from Koyasan as planned, I took a small detour to the outskirts of Osaka, to a town called Koriyama.

After a stunning train ride through the countryside and a few wrong turns, I found what I was looking for: K COFFEE.

What makes this literal hole-in-the-wall so well known is their peculiar fish tank out front. It’s an old school phone booth filled to the top with water and goldfish.

The coffee is all delicious hand drip, but I felt immediate buyer’s remorse as I picked up my iced coffee to see the person behind me order the most delicious affogato I’ve ever seen. I guess I’ll have to go back!

As I sat at one of the picnic tables with a book (and yes, there is wifi^^) it was lovely to see how many locals visited the cafe. This wasn’t some Instagrammer’s pitstop – it was a local favorite where entire families came to just to relax and take in the Saturday afternoon sunshine.

After resting my feet and soaking up the atmosphere, I started to wander the quiet neighborhood around the cafe.

The streets were lined with small art shops and bookstores where I was unexpectedly able to get my best friend the perfect birthday present!  I had to control myself around all of the affordable, used porcelain – I am a sucker for small bowls and vases!

I should research this more, but I believe that goldfish are an important part of Koriyama.  Not only was the K COFFEE aquarium famous, but there were goldfish hidden in nearly every store I went into.  The bookstore had a bowl with three goldfish, as did the used tea cup stall.

Even the storm drains, which vary based on town in Japan, had one!

After wandering a bit, I hopped back on a train and headed to my Kyoto, which would be my home for the next 4 days.  This was one pitstop worth making.  I felt completely recharged and discovered a place I probably would never have visited!

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