KAIDO books&coffee

KAIDO books&coffee is a delightful little coffee shop in Kita-Shinagawa that specialises in hot dogs and fresh cream scones. It’s also home to over 10,000 books that you can peruse while you sip on your coffee. The shop takes its name from the Tokaido, which was a major route connecting Kyoto and Tokyo during the Edo period. Shinagawa was once one of the 53 post towns that ran along the Tokaido - and this cafe apparently sits along what was once that road. It seems the owner specifically wanted to make this part of Shinagawa’s history better known, as today it’s best known for being a major train hub, especially for the airport or shinkansen lines. There was a small number of tables on the first floor, but there is also a second floor that contains many more books - it was quite crowded though so I didn’t take a photo as I didn’t want to put anyone’s face in it. The books that you can peruse are also mostly related to the “kaido” - the Edo-era roads and the journeys you might take…