Mori: A Book Cafe in an Old Japanese House in Imabari (Hohohoza Annex)

For travelers: Mori is a small book café in Komeya-cho, in central Imabari — an old Japanese townhouse that now houses a bookshop and a coffee counter, run as the annex of the local bookstore Hohohoza Imabari. If you want a quiet, very local break from sightseeing or cycling the Shimanami Kaido, this is the kind of place tourists rarely find on their own.

Today I visited “Mori” (which means “forest” in Japanese), a café-and-bookshop in one, kept almost exactly as the old house it has always been.

To be honest, standing in front of it I thought: “What is this place?” A café? A bookstore? You cannot quite tell from the outside.

But step inside, and a nostalgic warmth gently wraps around you.

Because the old house has been left largely as it was, the wooden pillars and the tatami-mat room feel like coming home to your grandparents’ place. The shelves hold secondhand books, new titles and a few crafts — browsing alone is a pleasure, even if you cannot read Japanese.

I ordered the house blend coffee.

It was clean and smooth, and sitting in the relaxed tatami room, I looked up and realized a whole hour had passed with a book in my hands.

Sitting on tatami, reading, with a good cup of coffee — a quietly luxurious way to spend time in Japan.

I am a father of four, so an hour of silent reading like this is honestly a rare treat. The shop also hosts talk events and small live performances. They aim to be a place where book lovers can drop in and take a breath — children and adults, locals and visitors alike.

One practical note: the opening days and hours change every month. Before you go, check the official site or their social media for the current schedule.

Good to know before you go

Is it a café or a bookshop? Both. Mori is run as the annex of Hohohoza Imabari, a local bookstore, with a coffee counter inside — so you can browse the shelves, sit down with a coffee and read — you do not have to buy a book first.

Can I buy the books and crafts? Yes — the secondhand books, new titles and small craft goods on the shelves are all for sale, and a little something from an old Imabari townhouse makes an unusual souvenir.

What if I don’t read Japanese? Most of the stock is in Japanese, but the browsing, the old house itself and the coffee are the real draw — this is a place to slow down, not to shop with a list.

Tatami manners: if you take a seat in the tatami room, shoes come off first, the same as in any Japanese home. Ease down, pick up a book, and let the hour disappear.

Fitting Mori into your day

Mori sits in the old town centre, between the station and the port, so it slots naturally into a day on foot around central Imabari — a quiet pause after Imabari Castle, or a slow coffee before an early dinner of the city’s famous yakibuta tamago meshi.

Getting there from JR Imabari Station

On foot or by bike: Mori is in Komeya-cho, in the old town centre toward the port side of downtown Imabari — within walking distance of JR Imabari Station, or a few minutes by bicycle.

Map: Open in Google Maps (4-2-1 Komeya-cho, Imabari)

For cyclists: an easy stop while exploring the city centre — parking next to the building is limited to four cars, so two wheels are an advantage here.

Shop Information (as of July 2026)

• Name: Mori (annex of Hohohoza Imabari)
• Address: 4-2-1 Komeya-cho, Imabari, Ehime
• Parking: 4 cars, next to the building
• Hours: Vary by month — check the official site (mori-komeyamachi.com) or SNS before visiting

If you would like to slow down the Japanese way — on tatami, with coffee and a book — this little forest in the middle of Imabari is well worth finding.

Information as of July 2026. Original article in Japanese: https://starlife2016.net/3124.html

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