A kura is a traditional storehouse with thick earthen walls, built to keep rice, sake or family treasures safe from fire. Some old kura around Japan now hold cafes, where the heavy walls shut out the noise and you sit with tea and a homemade sweet in a hushed room. They are scattered across the country, so pick the one nearest the place you are already visiting.
A cafe in a storehouse built in 1830, about 200 years ago, restored and paired with a workshop next door that makes cakes and baked sweets. You eat the sweets fresh in the quiet of the old earthen walls. It is about 15 minutes by bus from Hamamatsu Station, a stop on the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka, and it is closed on Thursdays and the first and third Wednesdays.
A cafe in a storehouse more than 100 years old in the city of Izumo in Shimane, home of the ancient shrine Izumo Taisha, where you can settle in for a meal or a slow pot of tea. Izumo is far from Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, so it fits best into a trip that includes the shrine. It is closed on Wednesdays.
A cafe in the storehouse of a shop selling Aizu lacquerware, the glossy lacquered tableware made in this part of Fukushima, and your coffee comes in a lacquer cup. You can also try kozuyu, a clear local soup of dried scallop broth and vegetables served at celebrations. It is about a 6-minute walk from Kitakata Station, in a town known for its many kura, and it is closed on Thursdays.
A cafe in a storehouse from the Taisho era (1912 to 1926), tucked into a quiet residential street in Tachikawa, west Tokyo. Sitting inside the old walls feels far from the busy station area. It is about a 15-minute walk from Tachikawa Station.