Audio aficionados on the hunt for a calm hangout near Osaka Station need look no further than this café and bar dedicated to vinyl and fine whisky. Owner Tomoo Kawagoe’s set-up of vintage speakers and vacuum tube amps produces a remarkably vivid sound, and his selections from a trove of around 3,000 records – mainly jazz and soul, with the occasional Showa-era J-pop track thrown in – demonstrate impeccable taste.
Equally impressive is Kawagoe’s whisky selection, which encompasses more than a hundred bottles. Prices are reasonable, especially when it comes to premium Japanese malts: a glass of Fuji Sanroku can be had for ¥1,000, while an order of Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu will set you back ¥1,600.