What is the cafe culture like in Tokyo

I work as a writer and love working in cafe's. I will be in Tokyo in may and wanted to know where is best to stay that i'd find many coffee shops, or places where people sit outside and read etc.

You will find lots of coffee shops near any train station or shopping area in Tokyo. Most of them are chains (Starbucks, Doutor, Excelsior, Tully's etc). A few have an outdoor terrace with some tables, but because of lack of space in Tokyo there are not a lot of terrace areas to sit here compared to other countries.

You might want to check out Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba as it sounds like it might suit you, but if you are living in a completely different area of Tokyo it is best to look for something nearer to your apartment.

Sega Fredo.

That's really the only answer to this question.

There are of course specialty shops with wonderful coffee, but for the mix of excellent coffee, the chance to meet/watch people, price, location (Shibuya, Shinjuku West), Sega Fredo offers something entirely different compared to the typical Japanese cafe chain.

The other reasons there are less outdoor seats here in Japan is because you get a lot of wind and rain and because not many 20th Century born Japanese people have the habit of dining/drinking outdoors unless the weather is really mild.

You will see more outdoor seats in places like Harajuku or Akasaka where more Europeans and Americans are. The other day when it was freezing, I was walking along an alley in Akasaka and saw a Caucasian couple having a nice Italian dinner at an outdoor table and just couldn't believe it.

Uco san, that couple might have been happy to sit outside in the cold, but I doubt that most Europeans or Americans would have been! There are a lot of outdoor cafe terraces in Spain, but when I lived there people would retreat inside as soon as there was the slightest hint of cold.

The Starbucks outside the South Entrance of Shinjuku Station has a tiny terrace with a few tables.. next door there's an italian restaurant with a nice terrace out back as well.

You are better off going to cafes in the less busy areas rather than Shinjuku and Shibuya, where there is usually not much space in the cafes, it can be difficult to get a seat, and it tends to be noisy on weekends and afternoons. Someone above mentioned the Segafredo chain- the coffee might be good, but I find the one in Shinmuku to be cramped, noisy, and difficult to get a seat at a lot of times.

Go for quieter areas- where you should go depends on where you live.

Perhaps it would be preferred because it seems everywhere you go permits smoking indoors and that's not very apitizing.