Café Hakkakutō: A Coffee Milk Break in Keiō University’s Historic Library

The imposing facade is a mosaic of red brick and granite. Designers Sone Tatsuzō and Chūjō Seiichirō both studied under the English architect Josiah Conder. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

The entrance hall on the ground floor. The marble sculpture of a woman on the left is Tekona, a 1909 work by Kitamura Shikai. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

The original artwork was by Wada Eisaku. This stained-glass rendition glows with the passion and dedication of both Ogawa and his disciple Ōtake. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

Inside the café. The tables were made in 2020 by Mitsukoshi Seisakusho, the same company that provided furniture for the Tekigaisō Gallery Café at the former residence of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro in Ogikubo. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

A seasonally peachy canelé and cream soda, plus Hakkakutō Coffee Milk. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

At left, the peachy canelé, and at right, the coffee milk, for which bottles are actually custom-made by Ōkawa Glass. The logo combines the kanji for “eight” (八) with an image of an open book. It also resembles Mount Fuji. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

Left: The menu design evokes traditional library cards. Right: The café entrance is marked by a stack of reading material. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)

The rich appointments of the Old Library’s main entrance. (© Kawaguchi Yōko)