The old world charm and traditions of this Tokyo cafe can transport visitors back in time

The trend of classical music cafes has long disappeared from the Tokyo scene, but Lion Cafe has somehow managed to survive the tide. As reported by Mainchi, the cafe is a wooden structure located in a building with three floors along with a basement. The business is located in the bustling Shibuya district and the whole structure was carefully crafted by the founding manager Yanosuke Yamadera. Its name was inspired by the "Lion Bakery" in London, and it functions on a unique seating arrangement with all the chairs facing towards a bank of huge customized speakers. This is done so that the customers get an authentic feel of being at a classical music concert.

The tunes played in the cafe are carefully curated every day in advance, and the patrons are given a pamphlet where all the tunes that would be played from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. are listed. The cafe boasts of an extensive collection of 5,000 vinyl records and CDs. Naoya Yamadera, the current manager of the Lion Cafe is proud of the fact that they have been able to keep the ambience of the business intact. “Meikyoku kissa is a place that plays classical music, where customers can listen to music, have a drink, and relax,” he shared with CNN. 

The cafe has gone through many ups and downs including the World War II air raids that destroyed the building before it was remodeled from scratch in the 1950s. The interior of the cafe captures the vibe of a concert with a dimly lit interior, featuring dark wood and carved reliefs. The staff discourages socializing and has forbidden the use of mobile phones. The sound system at the time of remodeling was custom-made for the building as it was embedded into the two-story-high wall at the front of the café. Customers are given the luxury of requesting certain classical tracks from the store’s collection before the list is played.

Naoya Yamadera now in his 60s joined the staff when he was in junior high school. He believes that music was the aspect that helped the cafe to stand apart. “In the beginning, the music equipment was expensive. We were doing it at a time when there were no such electrical goods,” he added. “There was a time when the café operated on a manual (hand-cranked phonograph), which was expensive even in the past, so only a small percentage of people could buy one individually.” 

Many have returned to the business decades later feeling as connected to it as they did during their youth. “For old customers who were in Tokyo as students and then went to the countryside, they come back here for the first time in 30, 40 or 50 years. The store is still unchanged after such a long time. The customers leave with a good feeling and that is what’s good about this cafe,” shared Yamadera. The cafe's resilience has also garnered a lot of international attention. “There are quite a lot of newcomers. Many people are not familiar with classical music, so I’d like them to get used to it in places like here,” said Yamadara. “Some of our customers come from as far away as America and Europe. Some also come from all over Japan. They look at guidebooks and see this place as a destination, so I would like to introduce the café to these people.”