Cafe & Bar Blooming : The Bottom Line
Cafe & Bar Blooming is a quaint, and fun, place to sample some local craft beers, as well as some beers from farther afield. It’s a shame that there aren’t any draught options, but the prices are reasonable considering that some places we’ve been to whack up the prices for cans and bottles. The whole place is non-smoking and has no table charge, along with some free wifi and an English speaking member of staff.
Cafe & Bar Blooming : The Full Review
It’s often been said that the Japanese population is facing a big down turn due to a rising death rate, and a lowering birth rate. So what do you with the tens, if not hundreds, of kindergartens and schools that were built during the population boom years? Well you could turn it into a brewery, like Nomcraft Brewing did with their building in Wakayama, or you could do with Mishima Mirai have done and turn it into a community space, with a place for people to work, study, or drink together. Ang with Cafe & Bar Blooming, you’ve got some craft beer to try as well.
Cafe & Bar Blooming opened in 2019 after the kindergarten in the area closed down in 2014 due to a declining population in the Mishima area. Rather than let the building go into disrepair, an NPO bought the building and premises in 2017, spending a year coming up with plans and ideas to help build a community. Cafe & Bar Blooming is located around 10 minutes walk from JR Mishima station.
Cafe & Bar Blooming : Atmosphere & Interior
As you walk into the Mishima Mirai complex, you can’t but smile as you see the flags flapping in the wind, and the astroturf lawn out front – and yes, you can sit and relax on it. It’s a very relaxing place – people came in for a quick beer or coffee, while other people were studying, and one person was doing yoga. The gentle sound of a river washing along could be overheard and there was a distinct sense of slowness in the area – noone was in a rush to do anything.
Inside of Cafe & Bar Blooming, there is space for around 20 people, at various tables and sofas; however, you can take the drinks outside when the weather is nice, and either sit on the grass, or at various tables dotted around the lawn, with no table charge. The whole place is non-smoking, and even has some free wifi, mainly due to the community work and study areas, but it’s nice to have that option.
Cafe & Bar Blooming : Beer & Tap Information
Disappointingly, Cafe & Bar Blooming doesn’t have any taps of craft beer on; however, they do have five fridges of craft beer, both domestic and imports, at various price points. The local beers – Mt Fuji Brewing, Numazu Craft, Hansharo, and Baird Beer, were pretty much the same price you’d pay for at the brewery, with some beers from further afield, such as Yorocco and Shonan Beer. Cafe & Bar Blooming doesn’t have a licence for off premise sales, so whatever you buy, you have to drink on site, though they do provide glassware for you at no extra cost.
Cafe & Bar Blooming : Food Information
Though Cafe & Bar Blooming is a cafe, they only had some basic snacks on such as crisps and nuts, though there are food trucks that make an appearance with the details on a small calendar on what appeared to be the community noticeboard out the front. It’s ok to take your own food into the lawn area though the nearest convini is a little bit of a walk, so make sure you take something with you. The staff who was at Cafe & Bar Blooming on the day we went spoke fluent English – and understood everything my friend and I was talking about when we walked into the bar – rather embarrassing but funny in the end.
Cafe & Bar Blooming : Information
- Open : Tuesday + Wednesday 12:00 – 18:00 Thursday + Friday 12:00 – 21:00 / Weekends 10:00 – 18:00
- Closed : Mondays
- Happy Hour : –
- Phone : 090-7680-2099
- Homepage (in Japanese) : https://mishima-mirai.com/
- Social Media : –
