Café Le Violon and Meikyoku Kissa Lion Tokyo: Classical Music Cafes We Visited

Café Le Violon Tokyo and Meikyoku Kissa Lion were two music cafes in Tokyo that we visited on our recent trip to Japan. “Kissa” is derived from kissaten,  a traditional Japanese coffee shop or teahouse. There seems to be two types of music cafes in Tokyo – meikyoku kissa and jazz kissa catering to customers with preferences for the respective music genre. We chose these two old cafes more for their atmosphere rather than type of music.

Café Le Violon Tokyo

Meikyoku-kissa Violon or Café Le Violon is a small classical music cafe which is said to be established in 1980. It is located in a small house on a narrow lane in the town of Asagaya, Tokyo. Fortunately it is only a short distance (about 300m) away from Asagaya Station. We easily navigated there using Google Maps after taking the JR Chuo Line to the station.

It is a bit out of the way from the usual places we would visit as a tourist. But it was definitely worth the trip as the roads surrounding the station and leading to the cafe had a quiet small town feel and there were little shops to look at.

Interior and Hi Fi at Café Le Violon

The interior looked very much like what we had seen online. The central area for the main seating is on a lower level while various furniture, stacks of old records and an upright piano are placed along the two lengths of the room. The control room where the operator sits together with the hifi equipment is behind the stacks of records on the left.

The main attraction is the large array of speakers at the front. We are not sure which of them are in operation. A classical piece which we could not identify was being played. The volume of music was lower than we expected from such a large set of speakers, as was the level of bass. Clarity, seemed to be the priority and the music was clear and pleasant. We thought the best listening position was at the seats right in front.

These are pictures of the turntable and electronics in operation at the time of our visit.

There were a couple of solo visitors to Café Le Violon at the time of our visit. They seemed to enjoy the stillness of the space and the music. I think it is a good place to escape the real world, especially at the time when neighbours are renovating.

The price of entry was 500 yen for a simple cup of coffee for each person. Vinyl records are played in the afternoon and it seems that live music is sometimes played during the evening. Details such as pricing and opening hours can change and it is best to check on their website before visiting.

Café Le Violon (ヴィオロン )
2 Chome-9-5 Asagayakita, Suginami City
Tokyo 166-0001
Japan

Closed on Tuesday

Website

Meikyoku Kissa Lion Tokyo

Meikyoku Kissa Lion Tokyo kept appearing when we searched for best kissaten to visit in Tokyo. In business since 1929, it is possibly the oldest meikyoku kissa. Based on what we found in our research, it may also be the largest. Being in Shibuya, this is more accessible than Café Le Violon but it is not in the most glamorous part of Shibuya. The building is also unusual. It looks more like a scene from Harry Potter than from a street in Tokyo.

This is also a much larger venue. The main seating area has seats arranged like in a theatre – facing the “stage” which is a wall of large speakers. Meikyoku Kissa Lion had a more touristy and commercial feel. There were more staff in attendance and quite a number of seats were taken even though we went on a weekday afternoon. Consquently, we did not wander around as much as in Violon.

Like in Violon, the sound level was lower than we were expecting, In fact we thought that the large hall could do with more volume. The classical music was not moving enough even when we went up in front. A lot of sound equipment, CDs and records were visible but we could not see which ones were playing.

Overall, it was quite an unusual place to visit in Tokyo but the experience was not as immersing as that in Violon. By the way jazz kissas are appearing in Singapore, such as Corner Corner Cafe, Jazz Kissa at Duxton Road.

Meikyoku Kissa Lion 名曲喫茶ライオン
2 Chome-19-13 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0043, Japan

Open Daily 1pm to 8pm

Website