Ogura toast from a Nagoya morning set · Photo: Hajime NAKANO / CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
JapanNagoyaNagoya "Morning" and Ogura Toast: Coffee Shops Where Breakfast Comes With Your Coffee
At coffee shops around Nagoya, ordering a drink in the morning often brings thick toast and a boiled egg with it. This is "morning." Here is the theory that it began in the textile town of Ichinomiya, the story of red-bean Ogura toast, and tips for ordering.
Pay for a Drink, Get Breakfast?
Coffee shops (kissaten) in Nagoya and across Aichi and Gifu have a distinctive custom called "morning." Order coffee or another drink before noon and thick toast and a boiled egg come with it. According to an article in the Japanese culture magazine Waraku, thick toast and a boiled egg are the basics, and some shops add salad or chawanmushi (savory egg custard), making it nearly lunch-sized. Many shops serve the morning set for just the price of the drink, and that sense of getting a good deal is the heart of the custom. Plenty of travelers are surprised when one cup of coffee brings plate after plate. Some shops keep serving it even after 11 a.m.
The Theory That It Began in Ichinomiya
Several places claim to be the birthplace of the morning set, including Ichinomiya and Toyohashi in Aichi and Hiroshima City. The best known is the Ichinomiya theory. Ichinomiya was a woolen-textile center, and its boom from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s was called the "gachaman" boom, because every clack (gacha) of a loom was said to earn ten thousand (man) yen. According to Aichi Prefecture's official tourism site, the looms were so noisy that business talks were often held in coffee shops, and a kind-hearted owner started adding a boiled egg and peanuts to morning coffee. The same article admits there are no records and this is only conjecture. Rival cities claiming to be the original are part of the fun.
A City of Coffee Shops, by the Numbers
Numbers show just how many coffee shops Ichinomiya has. According to estimates by the Ichinomiya Morning Council cited in the Waraku article, the city had 752 coffee shops in 2004, about 20 for every 10,000 residents. Dropping by a favorite shop every morning was simply part of life. The council, set up by the chamber of commerce, the city and others, promotes three "Ichinomiya Morning rules": it must be served at an eatery in Ichinomiya; following its origins, it must include an egg dish; and it should use Ichinomiya-grown ingredients where possible. A humble freebie of peanuts and a boiled egg has become the city's calling card.
Ogura Toast: Students Who Dipped Toast in Zenzai
Alongside the morning set, the signature dish of Nagoya coffee shops is ogura toast: buttered toast topped with sweet red bean paste. According to a Nagoya City Library research report and Japanese Wikipedia, it is said to have started at a coffee shop in Nagoya's Sakae district. Around 1921, the owner saw student customers dunking buttered toast into zenzai (sweet red bean soup) and created a menu item with the beans on top from the start. It spread across Aichi from there (accounts of its origin vary). Salty butter and sweet beans on crisp toast is a bit like a Korean red bean bun, yet different. Being able to choose ogura toast in a morning set is a very Nagoya pleasure.
How to Order a Morning Set
A few tips help on your first morning set. First, timing: many shops serve it only in the morning, and the cutoff varies, so if you arrive late, check the hours posted at the door or on the menu. Some shops serve it all day. Next, what you get. At some shops it comes automatically with any drink; at others you pick from several sets. Like the Aichi coffee shop in the photo, some let you switch to ogura toast for a small extra charge. Extra fees vary, so check the menu. The real charm is lingering unhurried, so start at least one morning of your trip in a coffee shop.