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Drip by drip, the Shōwa era quietly steeps. “Secret Company Coffee,” which excels at turning film scenes into spatial themes, has three branches across Taiwan: Taipei’s Shanghai mood comes from *In the Mood for Love*, Tainan’s from *Days of Being Wild*, while the Chiayi branch—nicknamed “Chi-Secret”—conjures 1960s Shōwa-flavored old Taiwanese street houses, evoking “the everyday life inside an Ozu Yasujirō film,” effortlessly. Founded by two artist brothers, the younger, Xiao-yi, is especially striking. In Tainan he brews in floral shirts; at Chi-Secret he switches to a black kimono. Standing behind the bar pulling shots, he completes the cinematic atmosphere—any random shutter press looks like a publicity still. Xiao-yi reveals that every light is meticulously designed. Chi-Secret opens only four days a week, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.—one of Chiayi’s night-owl cafés. As the night deepens, sit at the bar while Xiao-yi drip-brews with the KONO method or whisks Japanese tea, focused and hushed, time seeming to solidify—just like the tortoiseshell cat, Uru, gazing out the window with lucid eyes. Image source: Chiayi City Government Tourism News Office | Photography: Margot