A hipster favorite: The ultimate literary café experience—Don’t miss Tsutaya Books on your trip to Japan

Text and photos byExcerpted from "Tokyo's Star-Level Dining: 42 Selections of Artisanal Cuisine" by Joanne Huang, published by Style流行风

Anjin
Anjin
~The Ultimate Literary Café Experience~

If you’re like me and love flipping through books and sipping coffee in a bookstore, spending delightful hours in an artsy space, then you absolutely can’t miss the famous Tsutaya Books when traveling in Japan. This store brand, which originated in Osaka in 1983 from the Culture Convenience Club Co. (referred to as the CCC Group), perfectly combines music, movies, and books, and is beloved by the Japanese. Over the past thirty years, it has expanded to over 1,400 locations nationwide and even expanded to Taiwan at the end of 2012, operating a video rental store in partnership with Ya Yi Audio Video. With the changes of the times and shifts in lifestyle, Tsutaya Books has also actively introduced various types of store formats, aiming to meet customers’ needs in food, clothing, housing, and transportation in the most comfortable environment possible.

Located in Daikanyama, an area filled with upscale residences and embassies and brimming with exotic charm, Daikanyama T-Site—voted by the renowned American lifestyle website Flavorwire as one of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world—is a recent masterpiece by Tsutaya Books. The café and bistro we’re introducing here is located on the second floor of the bookstore and is called Café Anjin. It not only features elegant and comfortable décor but also offers delicious light meals and a variety of beverages, allowing guests to immerse themselves in a world of literature and enjoy the tranquility and comfort surrounded by a collection of treasured books.

▲Neapolitan spaghetti, Japanese-style beef stew rice.

Daikanyama T-Site is a composite new space covering over 4,000 tsubo (approximately 13,200 square meters), conceptualized as a “library in the forest.” At the front are three main buildings—the well-known Tsutaya Books—while the open garden area at the back includes a variety of specialty shops such as a pediatric clinic, aesthetic medical clinic, pet hospital, electric bicycle shop, digital camera boutique, restaurants, and more. The exterior walls of the buildings are especially worth observing closely. In addition to the first floor’s open design with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the walls cleverly use glass fiber-reinforced concrete to create beige-colored “little T” shapes, which are interwoven to form the larger “T” shaped exterior walls. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but it also successfully integrates the Tsutaya Books (Tsutaya) “T” logo into the architectural concept.

▲French chocolate mousse, iced walnut coffee.

Stepping into the middle building of the three parallel main structures—the No. 2 Building—you’ll find various art-related magazines and books on the first floor. Heading up the stairs to the second floor, you’ll arrive at the Anjin café. The spacious square space is surrounded by large art paintings and wooden bookshelves on all four walls, filled with books and artifacts from ancient to modern times, both Eastern and Western. Some collectible or limited-edition items are displayed in glass display cases, scattered throughout the café, quietly waiting for someone to recognize their value. The square-shaped counter design is quite unique—the base is stacked with books of different sizes and colors, while the black countertop and high stools give the counter a pronounced mature, adult vibe. The seating area uses an orange-red carpet, wooden tables, dark leather sofas, and soft dim lighting to create the calm and elegant atmosphere characteristic of 1970s and 1980s cafés.

▲Fried potato cubes.

In this retro environment, modern elements are also interspersed. After being seated by the staff, you’ll be handed an iPad menu with many product images for reference. In addition to specially selected coffee, beer, cocktails, and whiskey, the menu also offers delicious light meals and desserts. I highly recommend visiting Anjin during lunch hours to enjoy the exclusive lunch sets available only at noon. The Japanese-style beef stew rice here features tender yet firm meat that’s incredibly flavorful, paired with a rich, slow-cooked meat sauce that will have you finishing every grain of rice on the side. With the changing seasons, the shop also offers seasonal limited menus—for example, cherry blossom lattes in spring, water eggplant with thinly sliced prosciutto in summer, chestnut Mont Blanc and pickled saury in autumn—all made with specially selected seasonal ingredients. Though the dishes may seem simple, the preparation is anything but careless.

Joanne’s Foodie Whispers
One of the things that sets Tsutaya Books apart from other bookstores is how welcome it is for customers to browse any books or magazines before purchasing, and Anjin is no exception. Any book on the first floor or the tens of thousands of classic magazines surrounding the café can be taken to your seat to read. Friends who enjoy reading while dining or drinking shouldn’t miss a visit to Daikanyama T-Site, taking a seat at Anjin, and having a culinary and literary encounter amidst thousands of books.

Shop Information
Phone: 03-3770-1900
Address: 2F, Tsutaya Books 2nd Building, 17-5 Sarugakucho, Shibuya, Tokyo
Nearest Station: Tokyu Toyoko Line 'Daikanyama Station'
Business Hours: 09:00–02:00 (last order at 01:00)
Closed: None
Seating: 120 seats
Prices: Lunch ¥1,000–¥1,999, Dinner ¥2,000–¥2,999
Website:http://tsite.jp/daikanyama/store-service/anjin.html