Natural Station

Name: Natural Station
Type: Juice / Sandwich Bar
Station: Aobadai, Shibuya, Kita Senju, Nishi Shinjuku and more.

Info: Web Site, E: Online Email Form

If you're an Boost Juice fanatic like me and find yourself going through some serious withdrawal during your stay in Japan the small, yet growing juice / sandwich bar / cafe Natural Station is a good (though not as good) alternative.

As with most serving sizes in Japan the juices served here are smaller than those at Boost Juice though thankfully not as pathetically small as those served in the similar Japanese juice chain, Juicer Bar (does anyone know what's with all those people who spend all that money on a shot of fruit juice and then stand around train platforms posing while they sip at it's minuscule contents for the next half hour?).

Natural station has a wide variety of freshly squeezed juices and organic coffees as well as a large selection of rather tasty and fresh sandwiches though watch out for the Bacon & Tomato sandwich which has mayonnaise and tomato sauce on the bacon (only in Japan, right?).

Well worth a go especially if you want something a little different from Starbucks. I tried out the Aobadai branch which is right opposite the main ticket gates and found service very fast and friendly and the interior quiet, clean and relaxing. Brush up on your Hiragana and Katakana beforehand though as all menus are in Japanese and without pictures.

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Cafe AKIRA

Name: Cafe AKIRA
Type: Organic Cafe
Station: Roppongi Icchome

Location: About a 3 minute walk from Roppongi Icchome Station or a 10 minute walk from the larger and more famous Roppongi Hibiya and Oedo Line Stations. Check out their site for a map.

Info: Web Site, Ph: 03-6229-2828, Fax: 03-6229-2829

This wonderful little cafe was introduced to me by a good friend who's involved in the NPO which runs the cafe. They organise several projects around the world, one of which is producing real Free Trade coffee beans in Ethiopia which are used in Cafe AKIRA and taste simply amazing.

As expected there's a wide variety of coffee (and none coffee) drinks available from about 315 Yen for an espresso shot to 630 Yen for a Vienna Coffee.

What I recommend though is getting one of the many lunch sets, particularly the sandwich ones which will get you a coffee of your choice, a rather decent salad and an amazing sandwich all from 1050 Yen depending on the set.

Something else worth considering is the art gallery in the basement which costs 1000 Yen for entrance but gets you a free drip coffee (again, this coffee tastes incredible!) and two cookies.

It is worth noting though that the artwork in the gallery is on the surreal side so if that genre of art isn't your thing you might want to give it a miss. Personally I found it really interesting and worth my time.

The cafe itself has a very relaxing and modern atmosphere with a very clean yet warm (very rare in Tokyo) interior design with wooden walls and Ethiopian themed photography decorating the walls. There's also a large flatscreen monitor on one wall with footage of Ethiopia accompanied by some of Idaki Shin's music performances.

A big bonus worth mentioning is that all the menus and boards are in Japanese and English and the staff is very non-Japanese friendly!

Cafe AKIRA is definitely not your average Starbucks and I mean that in a good way (as much as I do like Starbucks). If you want a genuinely nice, warm and relaxing Tokyo cafe without the smoking that seems to accompany 99% of the cafes here, Cafe AKIRA is well worth a look.

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