Fukufuku Coffee

the coffee here leans into what shiga prefecture does quietly well: slow, considered drinks that don't perform for anyone. you're not going to find a long menu trying to cover every preference, which is fine. fukufuku sits on kasayama in kusatsu, a residential stretch that doesn't see a lot of foot traffic from tourists moving between kyoto and nagoya on the shinkansen, so the people who end up here mostly mean to. the local following is real and consistent. kusatsu has been a crossroads city since the edo period, two major highways once met here, and there's something fitting about a shop that rewards the people who actually stop rather than pass through. start with whatever espresso-based drink is on the board that day.