Where to sit, sip and slow down in Hiroshima.
Coffee shops, bakeries with seats and the places Hiroshima lingers in over a cortado.
Obscura Coffee Roasters pours in Fukuromachi, the sit-in Hiroshima counter of a specialty roasting brand that three Hiroshima men built up in Tokyo.
Signature drink: Single-origin pour-over
Tip: Takeaway drip is the cheap way in and the counter discounts a refill against your receipt, which makes this the easiest good coffee near Peace Memorial Park.
Hachidorisha is a social book cafe near Dohashi in Hiroshima, built around peace-education titles, filter coffee and one long shared reading table.
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: The shop opens from 11:00 on any date containing a six, a nod to the sixth of August, and otherwise from mid-afternoon.
Kiki Coffee is a small Otemachi stand in Hiroshima pouring Issou Coffee Roastery beans alongside scones and Onomichi bean-to-bar chocolate bars.
Signature drink: Issou Coffee Roastery latte
Tip: Closed Mondays and Thursdays, and the room is two short counters and one shared table, so mid-afternoon is the realistic window.
Rue Brazil has poured the morning set in Hiroshima since the postwar years, opening at 07:00 with bread, a boiled egg, salad and a cup of coffee.
Signature drink: Morning set coffee
Tip: Morning sets run from 07:00 to 10:30 only; after that the room switches to sandwiches, curry rice and buttered toast.
Kissa Saeki is the Kamiyacho coffee house in Hiroshima that rebuilt itself around organic and additive-free cooking, with a mostly vegan menu.
Signature drink: Organic drip coffee
Tip: The vegan salad set is served only between 10:00 and 11:00, so a late breakfast is the way to catch it.
Helen works as a Komachi cafe in Hiroshima until 18:00, serving cheese terrines and espresso drinks before the room turns into a whisky bar at night.
Signature drink: Espresso tonic
Tip: Come before 18:00 for the dessert and coffee menu; after that the room switches to Japanese whisky and cocktails.
Akam Coffee Works roasts African, Central American and Asian lots in Kokutaiji-machi, a small Hiroshima counter that also sells green beans.
Signature drink: Single-origin filter
Tip: Green coffee and one-kilo wholesale bags are sold alongside the retail beans, which is unusual for a shop this size.
Hiroshima Andersen occupies a converted bank on Hondori, a bakery market and Danish-style cafe that gave the whole city its habit of eating bread.
Signature drink: Bakery counter coffee
Tip: The ground-floor bakery market runs to 19:30; the upstairs restaurant keeps different hours and posts closures online.