京町家珈琲工房てらまちKyoto's signature pre-War home building style is the "machiya," or town home.
A typical Kyoto machiya is a long and narrow home that stretches deep into the city block (taxes were in the past assessed based on the width of a property). These structures often contain courtyard gardens.
The front of the home or business often served as space for a shop, with a noren curtain and sliding shutters.
Many remain - unlike all other major Japanese cities, Kyoto was spared US Air Force bombing during the War - but from the 1950s onward they came to be perceived of as dark, dank, cold, passe.
As a result, many were torn down and replaced by faux western-style homes - and the cityscape of Kyoto was rendered in most areas ugly and banal.
Roughly 28,000 of the buildings remain, and a bit of a rethinking of the importance and liveablility of the buildings is under way.
This fabulous coffee ship is located on Sanjo Shotenkai (shopping arcade). In addition to serving really, really good coffee, Coffee Kobo Teramachi is housed in a building that is wonderful. Built in the early 1900s, it is warm and inviting.
Both photos were taken from the second floor.
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