I was in Nagano a while back and stopped by a small board game store and cafe called Cafe Subbox. It’s about a 12 minute walk from the station and 20 minute from the gates of Zenkoji. Easy to miss from the outside, the inside is has a warm, welcoming vibe. There was a family playing a board game at the table near the door, and the owner was behind the counter. They had a sale going on, and a nice selection of games for sale as well as play in the store.
A notices board advertising events on the left, the message board on the right is for player recruitment. A lot of places use Line or similar online apps to create community, so it was nice to see the old school style of posting messages.
There was a box with a couple of used games as well, including a My Little Scythe with miniatures the owner painted. I also spotted some Vallejo paints tucked away on a shelf near the door. While mostly board and card games, there was also a Sword World starter box behind the counter.
The owner was knowledgable and was very nice to talk with. Seeing a poster for Goita (ごいた), we were inspired to pick it up. It’s a game played with two teams of two that I finally got a chance to play. We’ll take a look at that next time.
Website: https://cafe-subbox.com
Hours: Weekdays 15:00 to 23:00. Weekends 13:00 to 23:00. Closed Wednesday and Tuesday.