"Amazed It Hasn't Gone Under": Japan's Verdict on Arashiyama's Most Notorious Tourist-Trap Cafe

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 200 of 3,241 comments

• Serving the Danone straight up — not even transferring it to a dish — is almost admirably shameless. I've never seen anything like this.

  ダノンを器に移し替えるでもなくそのまま出してくるの潔すぎて笑う こんなの見たことない

  — @os-xl9cw19,708 likes

• The yogurt genuinely shocked me.

  ヨーグルトに衝撃を受けた

  — @mcy480413,596 likes

• They serve the yogurt in its original store container?! It could not clash harder with this decor. 😹😹😹

  ヨーグルト容器そのままの提供なの！？この空間に合わなすぎる😹😹😹

  — @motipuninin4,361 likes

• Wait, that's the one from the drugstore, served as-is? Those come four to a pack for a bit over ¥100 — that's ¥30 a cup…

  アレドラストにあるやつそのまま出てくるの？百円ちょっとで4つ組だから1つ30円だぞ…

  — @岩崎三朗234 likes

• It's hilarious that this is barely different from my own breakfast.

  俺の朝ごはんと大差ないの笑える

  — @313sin31,833 likes

• I remember a review on their page back then that read: "No Japanese spoken, the food is microwaved, and the cake that came out was from Chateraise." Weirdly poetic. It stuck with me.

  当時のサイトで「日本語通じず料理はレンチン、出てきたケーキはシャトレーゼ 」って文章あって語感がよくって面白かった記憶ある

  — @goriratchotchoberimatcho15,131 likes

• This review is way too gentle. This place deserved a much harsher verdict.

  レビューが優しすぎる これはもっと辛辣に判定すべきよ

  — @migeru65776,739 likes

• There was probably just too much to call out. He got tired.

  もうツッコミどころ多すぎて指摘するのも疲れたんだろ

  — @おたく-u3b268 likes

• This is bad enough that I want to sue on principle.

  もう訴えたいレベルでこれはひどい

  — @もち-n2d2,888 likes

• There's something uncanny about it — like an "aesthetic cafe" reverse-engineered by aliens who have never encountered food.

  なんだろう　「食を知らない宇宙人が見様見真似で再現した映えカフェ」みたいな不気味さがある

  — @kyasuta-m5901 likes

• The clientele must be one-time tourists only. And since the prices aren't as vicious as a rip-off bar's, the authorities and police can't really touch it.

  日本観光の一見さんのみが客層なのでしょうね金額もぼったくりバーほど酷くないので行政や警察も手を出せないのでしょう

  — @soumeiyosi3911582 likes

• The fact that this place doesn't go under tells you everything about the state Kyoto is in right now.

  これが潰れないということが京都の異常な現状を物語っていますね。

  — @ラララミュージックフェア2,422 likes

• We saw the exterior and my mom and I went "omg, we HAVE to go!" — then we were too tired and never made it… Thank goodness we didn't.

  ここ外装見て、ママと『えー！絶対行こうね！』ってなったけど疲れて結局行けなかったとこだ…行かなくてよかった…

  — @neon6186806 likes

• Arashiyama honestly has a lot of places like this. I once got a ¥10,000-plus afternoon tea there that came with gravelly chocolate and a butter roll microwaved until it was rock hard.

  嵐山こんなのが本当に多い。 前１万超えるアフヌンで、砂利チョコとレンチンし過ぎてガッチガチになったバターロール出てきたことがある。

  — @スタスタ子103 likes

• The reviewer did nothing wrong, yet he's out here half-apologizing to foreign tourists on Japan's behalf. His modesty makes it hurt more.

  正直レビューさん全く悪くないのに、海外観光客に謝罪したくなってるのが慎ましくてつらい

  — @2174c1978 likes

• SaveRansui Coffee↗嵐翠珈琲Arashiyama, near Saga-Arashiyama Station

  The cafe in question — 44,729 likes on "amazed it hasn't gone under." As of the comments, the consensus is to skip it; listed here so you can recognize it.

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

What is Ransui Coffee in Arashiyama known for?

Not its menu. In September 2024 Japanese media reported that an Arashiyama cafe was serving cakes bought from Chateraise, a budget confectionery chain whose cakes typically run ¥300–400 in its own stores, in drink-and-cake sets priced around ¥1,580; Chateraise said it would take the matter up with its lawyers and respond firmly. Those reports did not name the shop, but this comment section does: one commenter recalls a review of Ransui Coffee reading "No Japanese spoken, the food is microwaved, and the cake that came out was from Chateraise" (15,131 likes). The review behind these 3,241 comments later found supermarket yogurt served in its original container, and the top comment (44,729 likes) is amazement that the place still exists.

Sources: news-postseven.com — checked 2026-08-24

Is Ransui Coffee worth visiting?

The Japanese comment section's answer is a flat no — 2,888 likes on "bad enough that I want to sue on principle." One commenter explains why it survives anyway: the clientele is one-time tourists, and the prices aren't outrageous enough for authorities to act (582 likes). As of the comments, the consensus is: admire the exterior if you like, then keep walking.

How do I avoid tourist-trap cafes in Arashiyama?

A 103-like comment warns that Arashiyama "has a lot of places like this," citing a ¥10,000-plus afternoon tea that arrived with over-microwaved rolls. The thread's practical takeaway: an ornate exterior and a photogenic setting prove nothing — check what's actually being served, and who's in the seats, before you commit.