Umineko Shoten Webcam – Inside an Iwaki Coffee Shop

The Umineko Shoten Webcam looks down from a high corner inside Umineko Shoten, a small coffee shop and general store in the Onahama district of Iwaki, on the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The order counter runs along the left of the frame under chalkboard menus, with bread rolls in a glass case on the counter top. A painted wooden cabinet of baked goods on metal trays stands in the middle of the room, two lit display fridges sit beside it, and a doorway at the back opens onto the seating room. On opening days, between 9 am and 5 pm, staff work the counter while customers queue past the trays. After closing the camera keeps streaming, and the empty room is lit mostly by the glow of the fridges.

About Umineko Shoten

Umineko Shoten sits at 100 Tomiokamae in Onahama Ohara, a residential part of the Onahama district. On the shop’s YouTube channel the owners describe it as a coffee shop, a general store and a motorcycle shop all at once, and add that it is not a bakery, which is why they settled on shoten, the Japanese word for a store. The trays on camera tell a slightly different story, and local listings file the place under bakery and cafe, with burgers, homemade drinks, takeout and outdoor seating. The owners say a Volkswagen bus outside marks the building, and they also sell their snacks by mail order.

Umineko is the Japanese name of the black-tailed gull, and it means sea cat. The bird earned it with a call that sounds like a cat’s mew. It is a medium-sized gull, about 46 centimeters (18.1 inches) long with a wingspan of 126 to 128 centimeters (49.6 to 50.4 inches), and it nests along the coasts of Japan from Hokkaido to western Kyushu.

Onahama is the port district of Iwaki, a city of 322,019 people as of August 2023 that covers 1,232 square kilometers (476 square miles). Factories, fisheries and port facilities line its waterfront, along with an aquarium, beaches and seaside restaurants. The in-store camera has streamed on the same YouTube broadcast since December 26, 2022, and the shop runs two outdoor cameras beside it. The Garden Camera tab on this page switches to one of them, which looks down a stairway onto the lawn beside the building, strung with globe lights.

Weather and Climate in Onahama

The Onahama weather station’s 1991 to 2020 averages put January afternoons at 8.6 C (47 F) and January nights right around freezing, at -0.1 C (32 F). Spring is cool, with April averaging a high of 15.8 C (60 F) and a low of 7.4 C (45 F). August is the warmest month, with highs of 27.9 C (82 F), lows of 22.0 C (72 F) and a record of 37.7 C (100 F). October eases back to highs of 20.9 C (70 F) and lows of 13.2 C (56 F). About 1,441 millimeters (56.7 inches) of precipitation falls in an average year.

Indoors, the seasons show up mainly as light. On a bright day the window on the left wall throws daylight across the floorboards and the cookie jars beneath it, while on gray winter afternoons the room relies on its spotlights and the glow of the fridges. Two electric fans are mounted high on the walls, one on each side of the frame, for the warm months. The weather matters more out at the door, where the outdoor seating is, and the Garden Camera tab is the better place to check it.

Things to Do Near Onahama

The Onahama waterfront lies a short drive southeast of the shop. Aquamarine Fukushima, the aquarium on the port, is about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) away. Iwaki Lalamew, the port’s roadside station (michi-no-eki) with its gift shops, is about 450 meters (0.3 miles) from the aquarium and 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the shop. Iwaki Marine Tower rises southeast of the port, about 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles) from Umineko Shoten.

Spa Resort Hawaiians, in the Joban area of Iwaki about 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) northwest of the shop, draws around 1.5 million visitors a year and inspired the 2006 film Hula Girls. Closer to home, the shop’s outdoor seating and takeout make it an easy stop for a coffee or a burger on the way to the port. It opens from 9 am to 5 pm and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays, except when one of those days is a national holiday.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Umineko Shoten located?

Umineko Shoten is at 100 Tomiokamae, Onahama Ohara, in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It sits in the Onahama district, about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) northwest of the aquarium on Onahama port.

What can you see on the Umineko Shoten Webcam?

The camera looks across the inside of the shop from a high corner: the order counter and chalkboard menus on the left, a wooden cabinet of baked goods on metal trays in the middle, two display fridges, and a doorway to the seating room at the back. It does not show the street, the Volkswagen bus, any motorcycles or the sea. The Garden Camera tab shows the lawn beside the building.

Why is the Umineko Shoten Webcam empty right now?

The shop is open from 9 am to 5 pm Japan time and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays unless the day is a national holiday. The camera keeps streaming outside those hours, so at night and on closing days it shows an empty room lit by the display fridges. Staff and customers come back into view when the doors open.

What does Umineko mean?

Umineko means sea cat. It is the Japanese name of the black-tailed gull, given because the bird’s call sounds like a cat. The gull is about 46 centimeters (18.1 inches) long and nests along Japan’s coasts from Hokkaido to western Kyushu.

Does the webcam show Onahama Port?

No. The camera is indoors and shows only the inside of the shop. The port lies about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) to the southeast, around Iwaki Lalamew and the aquarium.

Is this a Mount Iwaki webcam?

No. This shop is in Iwaki the city, on the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. Mount Iwaki is a different place altogether, a 1,625 meter (5,331 foot) stratovolcano in western Aomori Prefecture, near Hirosaki.

What is the weather like in Onahama?

Onahama has cool winters and warm summers. January averages a high of 8.6 C (47 F) and a low of -0.1 C (32 F), while August averages a high of 27.9 C (82 F) and a low of 22.0 C (72 F). About 1,441 millimeters (56.7 inches) of precipitation falls in a typical year.

How far is Aquamarine Fukushima from Umineko Shoten?

About 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) in a straight line, to the southeast on the Onahama waterfront. Iwaki Lalamew is about 450 meters (0.3 miles) from the aquarium, and Iwaki Marine Tower is about 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles) from the shop.

Source: Umineko Shoten