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Community Cafe in a Renovated Sento - Rébon Kaisaiyu in Uguisudani

Update-Date: Nov 4, 2025

Author: Sydney Seekford

Categories: Sweets Cafe

Community Cafe in a Renovated Sento - Rébon Kaisaiyu in Uguisudani

A quiet Taito-ku neighborhood carries on nearly 100 years of culture at rébon Kaisaiyu, a public bathhouse turned roastery-cafe. History that could have been lost is now a place to enjoy original coffee, experience stunning architecture, and chat with community members from near and far.

Sydney Seekford

Gourmet Creator

American living in Japan since 2022. Food writer and gourmet content creator for Japan’s most well known food media. Founder of menu translation and language support service MENUWIZ. Work history includes copywriting for booking platforms, video and media production and appearances, and consulting in F&B for household brands. Passionate about regional revitalization and slow tourism with a focus on local food culture.

The Revival of Sento Culture

Tokyo has a way of bringing things full circle. Trends find their way back every 20 years or so. After decades of tepid waiting, it seems that hot water is cool again. The city of Tokyo is even hosting a sento promotion project to encourage foreign visitors to try out Japan’s old-fashioned public bathing facilities.

Pushes for more tattoo-friendly spas and general education on history and etiquette are making it easier for guests to appreciate the unique ambiance a sento has to offer. It’s just one part of the trend that has seen baths drained for DJ parties, steam-tinted Mt.Fuji paintings preserved in galleries, and fading practices revived with a flood of young people into saunas and super sento.

Located in a renovated bathhouse from 1928, rébon Kaisaiyu is a cafe and workspace that preserves the charms of sento culture in its own way. The sense of community fostered by communal bathing is reimagined – reborn, if you will – in a space that embodies the quintessential appeals of Japan. Part office, part cafe, part historical preservation, rébon transforms an unremarkable Taito-ward street into a gathering place for people from all walks of life, just like it did in its former life as a sento.

History of rébon Kaisaiyu Sento

Originally constructed in 1928 and still called Kaisaiyu, the sento operated as a public bath for the people of Uguisudani in Taito-ku until 2016. At that time, the owner made a decision that despite closing the baths, the building would stay as a piece of local memory and a representative part of the neighborhood.

That wish was granted by Yamamura, a construction and architectural firm from Yamagata that is now active nationwide. The firm, originally a timber company, specializes in using natural materials and infusing spaces with a feeling of humanity – a perfect match to renovate rébon into its current state.

Yamamura also hosts its office in the former bath space of rébon. Visiting, guests can watch the team at work against the mural of Mt. Fuji. Tiny models of future buildings are softly lit by the sunlight coming in from high windows that once released steam, inspiring busy cafe goers to work away on their own project while surrounded by fellows. Interestingly, a place that was once used to relax has become a community space where people work towards their dreams.

Cafe menu

rébon’s main room is divided into two portions, one with the counter, perfect for sipping a quick cup of coffee, and the other with several tables and a library against the back wall. Light lunches and seasonal sweets are available to go with visitors’ drinks, though many come for a hot cup of single origin coffee. Other popular menu items include ice cream and coffee pairings and comforting lattes.

The matcha latte in particular, served iced or hot, uses a delicious variety from Fukuoka with an excellent balance between bitter and sweet. Instead of defaulting to the popular Uji matcha, rébon Kaisaiyu staff have selected Fukuoka Yame-cha, grown in an area with direct roots to the introduction of tea plants from China.

One of the coffee pairings features Shounan Gold brand mandarin orange ice cream with Nicaraguan coffee. This unique flavor pairing, featuring only the natural essence of oranges and fruityness locked in the coffee beans, is refreshing enough for summer and bright enough to warm up a winter afternoon. The secret to enjoying this “mariage” of coffee and ice cream is to try a sip of coffee while the gelato is still melting on your tongue. The coffee beans are carefully roasted in house to create the best partners for their specialty ice creams.

The space

Although the space has been updated some, many of the decorative accents are left over from when this was a bathhouse. The baskets guests put their bags in were used to hold personal items while visitors bathed. The opaque, mirrored wall in the center, now dividing the two cafe rooms, once divided the baths between men and women.

In the center, near the sliding entrance doors, a zabuton cushion on a raised platform marks where staff would have sat to collect coins on each guest’s way towards the baths. The remaining bandai too, where the owner used to sit, is still in good condition. If you ask the staff, they’ll let you take a commemorative photo while sitting on it. High above, a clock with the baths’ original name ticks away the hours.

Many of the left over features, including the shoe locker, called a kutsubako, are still used today. Guests are asked to remove their shoes before entering the cafe (so it might be a good idea to wear socks) and store them in one of the numbered cubbies. The wooden plaque marking your locker number is an iconic piece of sento imagery, one that has even found its way into contemporary motifs.

Looking up, visitors will notice that the high ceilings, used to trap and disperse steam from the baths, are still intact. The natural wood and ventilation create an airy space that is well lit throughout the day. Features like original fixtures and old scales, even the peeling bathhouse mural, have been left in place. In the adjoining room, once the men’s changing room, a huge roaster awaits the next batch of beans. This is obviously a modern addition, but its retro design fits right in.

Legacy and Future

For visitors who have never experienced a sento, much less one with this much history, enjoying a break among the accents of old architecture serves as a first step. These public baths are places where would-be-strangers of all ages and backgrounds come together. For generations of Japanese people, sento were used by every person, making them a great equalizing place. While the role of sento in their neighborhoods is shifting, their meaning remains.

The team behind rébon Kaisaiyu hope that through this space, people can feel the bonds of community this particular bathhouse nurtured over its decades of operation. In every corner, you can feel that though the baths may be gone, the warmth remains. Having a coffee at rébon might be just a splash of sento culture, but spending an hour in this beautiful space is enough to make anyone feel like a part of its story.

rébon Kaisaiyu
Access: 5 minutes from Hibiya-line Iriya station
12 minutes from Yamanote-line Uguisudani station
Address: 　2-17-11 Shitaya, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Hours:　 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Closed　 Irregular holidays. Please check social media for the latest information.

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