飛珈祖堂 — Restaurant in Gotenba

It looks like an ordinary cage from outside, though quite stylish. Little you know that it's run by the man who shot most of the photos inside, a professional photographer, a former teacher of Tougendai university. Sure, the coffee is exactly what I'd make myself at home, but don't come there for food. Come for experience.

I happened to stumble upon in on an early Saturday morning, as the bus I had to take literally closed the doors in front of me. I had 30 minutes to kill, and it turned out to be one of the best 30 minutes I've had on the trip. I had a brilliant conversation, and even got some memorabilia to take with me.

I'm sure it may not be an experience everyone gets, but to me this was an experience beyond the rating scale. It's almost I shouldn't be posting it on Google maps, but...

I have mixed feelings as I was pretty excited to talk to the owner as someone interested in film and photos, but was sad to see the owner insult right off the bat my husband’s, who has different hobbies and interests, intelligence for not knowing who a very specific Canadian pianist is. 🥹 The owner kept dissing my husband and saying he has no intelligence. Then got really mad after I said we just want one coffee to go (I don’t drink coffee). He went to rant in Japanese. Anyways, I tried to chat a little bit with the other owner who’s a woman. Maybe she was trying to improve the tension, but we just wanted to get the coffee and go next...

Old fashioned, museum style cafe with immaculate vibes. The owner of the store, Shunichi Iketani (award winning photographer), was running the store himself. He welcomed us upon arrival and took our orders verbally (not sure if there is a physical menu). He spoke a little bit of English, enough to hold a conversation about his career as a photographer and photography teacher. He also showed us many photos from over the course of his career. If you are interested in photography / filmmaking, and are arriving at Gotemba station,...