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A Place to Simply Be: Ibasho, Solitude, and Urban Belonging in Tokyo Cafés

Neri, Yasmine (2026) COSM40 20261
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Abstract
This thesis examined how solitude is experienced and accommodated in cafés in contemporary Tokyo, and how it can constitute a form of urban belonging beyond community-centred understandings of public social life. While cafés are commonly analysed through Oldenburg’s third place theory, which emphasises sociability and informal social interactions, such frameworks cannot adequately account for the presence of people spending time alone in cafés. To address this gap, the thesis used third place and ibasho, a Japanese concept referring to a place where one feels ease and safety, and a sense of belonging understood as the individual’s subjective experience of these conditions. The study was based on participant observation conducted in three... (More)
This thesis examined how solitude is experienced and accommodated in cafés in contemporary Tokyo, and how it can constitute a form of urban belonging beyond community-centred understandings of public social life. While cafés are commonly analysed through Oldenburg’s third place theory, which emphasises sociability and informal social interactions, such frameworks cannot adequately account for the presence of people spending time alone in cafés. To address this gap, the thesis used third place and ibasho, a Japanese concept referring to a place where one feels ease and safety, and a sense of belonging understood as the individual’s subjective experience of these conditions. The study was based on participant observation conducted in three cafés in Tokyo, supplemented by semi-structured interviews and analysis of selected user reviews from Tabelog. The findings showed that cafés function as important urban infrastructures in a city where free public space and resting spaces are limited, sustaining urban life as third places between the pressures of home and work, and through ibasho, by providing places for individual ease and free from social demand. The thesis concluded that, due to the creation of conditions that people can subjectively claim as ibasho, cafés become places where solitude constitutes a genuine form of urban belonging. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Neri, Yasmine
supervisor
organization
course
COSM40 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
ibasho, third place, solitude, urban belonging, café culture, Tokyo
language
English
id
9243456
date added to LUP
2026-06-24 11:19:59
date last changed
2026-06-24 11:19:59
@misc{9243456,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examined how solitude is experienced and accommodated in cafés in contemporary Tokyo, and how it can constitute a form of urban belonging beyond community-centred understandings of public social life. While cafés are commonly analysed through Oldenburg’s third place theory, which emphasises sociability and informal social interactions, such frameworks cannot adequately account for the presence of people spending time alone in cafés. To address this gap, the thesis used third place and ibasho, a Japanese concept referring to a place where one feels ease and safety, and a sense of belonging understood as the individual’s subjective experience of these conditions. The study was based on participant observation conducted in three cafés in Tokyo, supplemented by semi-structured interviews and analysis of selected user reviews from Tabelog. The findings showed that cafés function as important urban infrastructures in a city where free public space and resting spaces are limited, sustaining urban life as third places between the pressures of home and work, and through ibasho, by providing places for individual ease and free from social demand. The thesis concluded that, due to the creation of conditions that people can subjectively claim as ibasho, cafés become places where solitude constitutes a genuine form of urban belonging.}},
  author       = {{Neri, Yasmine}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Place to Simply Be: Ibasho, Solitude, and Urban Belonging in Tokyo Cafés}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}