The world’s only tatami Starbucks: At this Kyoto store, do you really have to take off your shoes before coffee?

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At a typical Starbucks, you order your coffee and head straight for a seat. At one Kyoto location, though, you’ll need to take off your shoes before settling into its most distinctive seats. Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya is tucked along the stone-paved slope leading to Kiyomizu-dera, and from the outside, it looks more like a traditional Japanese home than a familiar chain coffee shop.

A Starbucks tucked inside a century-old Kyoto machiya

images from/getty images

Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya is located on historic Ninenzaka, a stone-paved slope leading to Kiyomizu-dera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The surrounding streets still retain the traditional atmosphere of the Taisho era.

The store occupies a two-story Japanese machiya that is more than 100 years old. During the renovation, Starbucks retained much of the original wooden exterior, layout, and traditional spaces, then added the equipment needed for a modern coffee shop, allowing the old house to continue serving a new purpose.

Unlike most Starbucks locations, there is no large green sign outside. Instead, a traditional Japanese noren curtain printed with the Starbucks logo welcomes guests at the entrance. Its understated wooden facade blends into the surrounding machiya so well that you might walk right past it without noticing.

Take off your shoes before entering the tatami seating area

images from/getty images

The first floor has an ordering area, regular seating, and a garden, while the most distinctive seating is upstairs. Along with sofas, tables, and chairs, the second floor has three tatami spaces. Before entering these Japanese-style rooms, guests need to remove their shoes and then sit on floor cushions to enjoy their coffee.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to remove your shoes to enter the store or go upstairs. This Japanese custom applies only to the tatami seating area. You can still sit directly at the regular tables and chairs.

The three tatami spaces include a more traditional inner parlor, a Japanese-style room measuring about four and a half tatami mats, and a raised small parlor. Some seats overlook the store’s garden, offering a quiet place to rest away from the crowds on Ninenzaka.

Coffee and Kiyomizu-dera are hidden in the hanging scrolls, too

images from/getty images

The tatami spaces feature not only floor cushions but also Japanese hanging-scroll art. Inspired by the water at Otowa Falls at Kiyomizu-dera, as well as the flow of water and drips of coffee during brewing, the works bring together Kiyomizu-dera’s local culture and Starbucks’ coffee.

The cushions and some hanging-scroll decorations also use traditional Kyoto textiles, so the store does more than borrow the look of Japanese architecture. It truly brings Kyoto’s craftsmanship, spatial design, and everyday customs into the coffee shop.

The world’s first Starbucks with tatami seating

images from/getty images

Opened in 2017, Kyoto Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya was the first Starbucks in the world to feature a noren curtain at its entrance and let guests enjoy coffee in a tatami space.

What makes this store so appealing isn’t just the chance to drink a latte while sitting on tatami. It’s how a global chain has adapted to the local historic streetscape and architectural culture. Rather than turning the century-old machiya into a standard store, it preserves as much of the building’s original character as possible, allowing modern coffee culture to blend naturally into Kyoto.

The next time you’re visiting the area around Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera, look for this understated Starbucks along Ninenzaka. Take off your shoes, settle into a tatami room, and look through the wooden windows at the garden and old street. It may be the most Kyoto-like way to enjoy a coffee.

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