Feel Like a Kid Again! Eat Nostalgic Dishes at Sepia in Shibamata

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Shibamata, Tokyo is popular with visitors for its traditional streets and retro ambience. Ms. Hasezawa is the owner of Sepia, a traditional café filled with the girls’ manga from her childhood. You’ll feel like a kid again the moment you step inside!

Written by

miho

東京

Born in Taiwan. Currently living in Tokyo. Currently editor in chief of MATCHA's Taiwanese website. In the past, I worked as an editor for a Japanese fashion magazine, as a Japanese language teacher at a private high school in Taipei, as an interpreter for Shiseido and other Japanese and Taiwanese companies. I've also had experience as an inbound tourism copywriter. My Facebook page 'Tokyo beyond studying abroad' 東京、不只是留學（留学だけじゃなくて）boasts 120,000 followers. Blogger with readers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, of which 70% are female readers. I have covered over 300 locations and stores in my articles. Writing about the latest trends, places off the beaten path, and traditional culture. Published six books on Japan in Taiwan and Asia. Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/filmmiho/ Instagram → @mihowang47

Sepia is a wooden, two-story coffee house that stands out with its warm color scheme. Step inside and you're sure to feel the owner, Ms. Hasezawa's, nostalgia for the Showa period.

Ms. Hasezawa adored shojo manga (young girls’ comics) as a child. She admired the developing love stories, the protagonist’s outfits, and the delicious food that appeared in these comics. What left the greatest impression on her was a Japanese coffee house-themed manga. She had always dreamed of running her own coffee house in her hometown.

In 2013, that dream became a reality!

The interior boldly integrates vivid orange, pink, and red color schemes. It’s like you’ve dived into the beautiful, dream-like setting of a shojo manga.

Head inside to find covers from classic old-school manga hung on a wall to the left. These comics are some of the inspirations for various things in the café.

The cafe's name, Sepia, was inspired by Ako Mutsu's “Milky Sepia Monogatari," a classic in the shojo manga world. The food menu is also evocative of these manga titles.

The front shelves are filled with adorable art and merchandise that Ms. Hasezawa has collected over the years. In addition to buying items secondhand, customers will also sometimes send them as gifts!

Travel Back in Time to Your Youth

At the back of the first and second floors are recreations of a 70s child’s room that exude a sort of nostalgia. It’ll feel like you’ve somehow slipped back in time! The first floor room is themed “memories of a junior high school girl” and is arranged with some of the precious treasures you’d find from a young girl’s childhood like manga, or dolls on her desk.

We asked Ms. Hasezawa what her most prized possession is. After pondering for a moment, she replied:

“It’s a difficult choice, but it’d be the goods that came with the monthly manga magazine "Ribon." That’s because these items aren’t available anymore.”

The second floor room is themed “hanging out at a friend’s house as a child.” You can really feel the Showa atmosphere from the furniture, tableware, thermos bottles, and other home appliances. According to Ms. Hasezawa, Showa furniture was distinct for its use of bright, vivid colors. The frequent use of floral and fruit motifs really give the products a warm, cheerful mood.

A private room is available for reservation (500 yen/hour per person). It can only be reserved if you plan to order a Sweets or Food Set.

The World’s Smallest Candy Candy Museum

“Candy Candy” is a 1970s shojo manga that was a huge hit around the world. On the second floor of Sepia, you’ll find the world’s smallest and only “Candy Candy” museum. Do note that the museum can only be entered on Saturdays (600 yen entry fee).

Products like “Candy Candy”-themed bento lunch boxes, canteen bottles, and a sewing machine are placed on display and truly evoke a young girl’s heart.

The most interesting find are the anime storyboard sheets pictured above. Flip through the pages and you’ll see the behind-the-scenes efforts by the artists in meticulously creating an animated production.

An Adorable and Dreamy Café Menu

Staple Japanese dishes such as Napolitan spaghetti, pasta, omelet rice, and pilaf are all available on the café menu. For this article, we ordered the Napolitan spaghetti, and exclaimed “how cute!” as soon as the dish was brought to our table.
Napolitan is a dish often enjoyed in Japanese homes and Western-style restaurants. It consists of spaghetti, bell peppers, and onions covered in a rich ketchup sauce to give it a sweet and sour flavor. It was incredibly delicious (1,400 yen after tax, including drink and salad).

Let’s finish with desert! The Firm Custard Pudding is handmade by Ms. Hasezawa with just milk, sugar, and eggs. She perfected this recipe after repeated trial and error and it's one she is quite confident in. The slight bitterness of the caramel and aroma from the eggs spreads smoothly across the palate. It’s the perfect combination with an ice-cold melon cream soda (as a set, 1,200 yen after tax).

Adorably Colorful Original Goods

If you’ve become captivated by the lovely stories found in the world of this coffee house, then how about getting some original goods? Key holders featuring pudding, available in pink or yellow, will cheer you up every time you grab your keys (500 yen).

There are also original postcards specially drawn for the coffee house by a fan that works as an illustrator. These postcards have all the aspects of the shop on one adorable souvenir! (150 yen each.)

Be a Young Girl Again at Sepia!

Your youthful heart won’t disappear even once you’re an adult! You may have grown up, but here at this traditional coffee house you can yearn for romantic love and collect adorable goods once more.

Visit Sepia and feel the fluttering excitement in your heart once more!

* As a measure against COVID-19 infections, the cafe is currently open with reduced hours as of May 2021.

Showa Retro Cafe Sepia

7-4-11 Shibamata, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 125-0052

* Business hours have been changed to prevent coronavirus infections.

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In cooperation with Sepia

Written by

miho

東京

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