This is such a great video! Happy to have helped in a very very small way, this video really makes me want to spend more time in Japan drinking coffee! (Also, so happy to see Merry White in the video too - she's the best!)
My algorithm suggested this video to me (I follow you), never came across Faultline before - but I certainly didn't regret clicking! Nice jumper, James! 😉
It would have been a travesty to not feature Merry White or mention Coffee Life In Japan, it’s such an (intimidatingly?) thorough exploration of this topic and its history.
Hey James, My wife and I moved from the U.S so she can go back to her homeland. I have been roasting coffee for 6 years now but this last year I have really been studying the different reactions when coffee is roasted. Your videos have taught me so much. I listen to you every day when I take my nap. Thank you for your content and this collaboration. May you have many great cups in the future.
As a Japanese person, earthquake alert is no joke. Everyone hates it and we cannot hear the sound without being reminded of previous disasters we have experienced. It’s simply a bad idea to use the alert as a sound effect especially when you shoot a video about Japanese content. BTW, I enjoyed the rest of the content! Old school coffee shop is popular in japan also because some of them still allow smoking.
"Japan is aiming not to be Western, but to be modern." This perfectly encapsulates Japan and on why they perfectly balances modern society with tradition and culture.
and it is one of the few countries that did that without being a European colony for centuries. It really makes you wonder how different the world could have been without colonialism.
@@XramDivadPeople were conquering other people since we left the trees. In last couple thousands years we got pretty efficient so we have countries and cultures now not just tribes. The world without it would be hunter gatherer like it was 100k years ago and we wouldn't be talking to each other on YT right now.
@@XramDivadThey weren't colonised but they did adopt a lot of western ideas and style of government to name a few during the meiji restoration period which is what lead to how the country is today.
Another big reason why Starbucks became so popular with the younger generation was that it was at the time one of the only places in Japan that banned smoking indoors, otherwise still a common practice to this day!
Presumably yes to the first part, pretty confident no to the "to this day" part if I understand you correctly. smoking indoors has pretty much gone away entirely. It's been banned by law almost completely since april 1st 2020.
@@henrynewton8265 Well, maybe "common" is an overstatement to be fair. I still run into (and turn around at the door of) a lot of smaller izakayas and cafés where smoking is very much still a thing though. Many major café chains (Doutor in particular in my experience) still have separate smoking sections. The law you mention only applies to establishments opened after April 2020, so many existing places still keep to their old ways. But yes, it's certainly gotten a lot better compared to 5 or 10 years ago!
In some parts of Tokyo smoking is not allowed OUTside except in designated smoking areas. For example, cafes opposite Shinagawa station have outdoor tables, but if you want to smoke you need to move inside to a smoking room.
0:02 0:33 Andy: Uses random Japanese soundbite to represent vending machine usage Me: Having full-blown PTSD, wondering why am I hearing Japanese earthquake sirens when I'm already back in my home country.
Same here. I normally don’t say things like “it’s triggering,” but this literally is. If you’ve gone thru 311, this sound effect can actually be weaponized… I don’t think he realizes the effect of it tho.
Agreed. Please don’t use this noise… it’s the alert noise they use in Japan for earthquake alert and emergencies and can actually be very triggering. I came to your video thinking it would be interesting but it just made my heart jump and now I feel uneasy 😢 please consider changing the sound
Great video - however I can't say I was a fan of the usage of earthquake early warning system sounds (such as at 0:03 and 0:34). Just as a feedback here, these not only scare the crap out of people but they also are illegal to play in public areas in Japan.
Damn I'd never imagine that is an earthquake warning sound if not for people pointing it out, it sounds so cheerful I just thought it was a sound effect from one of those machines
Hey mate, I’ve been working in the coffee industry in Japan for about 6 years and absolutely brilliant documentary. The specialty coffee boom and the rise of larger specialty coffee focused companies like Maruyama coffee and medium to large size roasters like UCC and Ogawa coffee has really changed the coffee landscape. We are seeing a larger-number of local roasters going to origin (thanks to companies like TYPICA) and importing beans themselves. The coffee industry changes almost too quickly here it is sometime hard to keep up!
Japan has been doing specialty coffee for almost 3 decades. In the 1990s they were buying all the available Alto Grand and Yauco selecto they could get their hands on.
The Japanese coffee obsession was best parodied in the 1986 NHK TV series "Hanekonma" in which a recently unemployed samurai in the Meiji era (played in a career making performance by Kobayashi Nenji) becomes a barista and brews coffee with the intense concentration of a warrior sharpening a sword. His son complains, "If I bother him he might slice me in half".
Lived in Japan for 3 years. What surprised me was that how good and consistent their Starbucks were comparing to the ones in the US. Also those vending machines have cold and hot sections (yes, warm can of coffee) which is a great pick me up on the go. Unfortunately, I have been to only 2-3 real coffee shops and they were one of the best cafe experiences I had - not just because of the beverage but also the atmosphere. I did not know there was a history this deep, I always thought it was a more modern addiction that came later in Japanese life.
... which is what makes James Hoffman, a tea-swilling Englishman's claims of coffee expertise so amusing... you couldn't find a coffee machine in the UK until the early 2000s to save your life... or even coffee unless you ate at the International House of the Big Breakfast... honestly. the Brits did this with Calculus too ... but, what do you expect from a country who's whole road system is an over-sized go-kart track... k. enough.
... Joffman should be ashamed for messing up everyone's usage of the simple Moka pot. nobody in their right mind puts boiling water in a Moka Port to start... as Joffman claimed you needed to do.. Anyhow, its thanks to @AnnalisaJ & her video ... How to Make “Espresso” Like an Italian With a Moka Pot ... for sorting me out...
@@douglasmaclean5836 It is funny to witness. He believes he on the vanguard of coffee, when ‘coffee growing countries have been drinking the highest quality coffee for over 200 years.
If I may add, there was a Kissaten boom during the Taisho period before WWI, which after WWII, people tried hard to get back. That’s why old school brewing methods like siphon and cloth filter was revived after the war. Thanks for a great video!! Nice to see Mr. Hoffman which adds so much to the credibility of it all.
The guy they chose to host this has like 0 credibility though, unfortunately and has to rely on other experts? he's literally drinking s*bucks and mccoffee at the beginning and pronounces even simple words wrong. I guess they wanted to show this adventure through the eyes of someone completely fresh to this topic?
Hot damn that earthquake alert never fails to freak me out! I guess not only the Japanese but long-term residents in Japan would get this as well Edit: As a Japanese person on the periphery of English speaking internet it never fails to either amuse or frustrate me to see how average Westerners seem to still see Japan as super-duper traditional not to love coffee as much as they do because Asians gonna Asians and only consume specifically Asian stuff huh
Hey everyone, thanks for watching! Lets us know in the comments your favourite style of Coffee ☕ And you can check out the first two parts of our Japan series here: bit.ly/3T0unGC 🇯🇵
Some of the best coffee dessert recipes I have ever made were from Japanese chefs. They have many takes on coffee, and so far I like everything I have tried.
Pourover is by far my fav. Piccolo latte when I'm feeling sophisticated 😝 Nanyang kopi when i need a strong kick of caffeine and sugar in my blood lol.
Please don’t put the earthquake alert notification sound in your video. It might sound melodic but it’s taken very seriously in Japan because earthquakes are a genuine threat to life.
Great video! Only one thing I feel the need to correct - most of the time when you say 'roast' you should use the word 'brew'. Roasting is when you roast green coffee to make it useable for drinking. Brewing is actually preparing the drink from the roasted coffee.
Came here cause Hoffmann posted the link - left thoroughly impressed by your product value, really good stuff and good storytelling as well. Thanks for a great video. Canned coffee is what I think of when someone says Japan, so glad to see an embracing of the slower style again.
Before I came to Japan I had little to no interest in coffee. I have been here for five years now and I own my own espresso machine, moka pot, pour over set up and so on. It helped that the coffee here is just better overall. The average latte or cappuccino is about as good as the *best* lattes and cappuccinos I had in the states. Also quick note; I know it was sarcasm, but the pumpkin spice latte is not well-loved in Japan and was only recently introduced here to lackluster results. And 7-11s "instant" coffee is legit, actually grinds the beans and pulls you an espresso shot with steamed milk in that ultra short amount of time
When I lived in Japan I also noticed this. Most big streets in Osaka have a coffee shop and, and theres so many vending machines with coffee, but the most common was STARBUCKS, I swear you couldent go a street without seeing a large starbucks.
Was in Osaka for a week in Feb…NEVER stepped foot into a Starbucks coz there was just so many other coffee places that were so much better!! Now I’m planning to return to Osaka next year during the long Chinese New Year break (company shuts down for the whole week 😂😂😂).
Please do not use the J-Alert noise in your soundscapes. It's used for emergencies and earthquake warnings, not vending machine jingles. You probably had quite a few people scrambling under their desks when that played 3 times
A quick note, regarding pour over coffee. I'm pretty sure pour over style coffee was first "invented" by Melitta Bentz in Germany in 1908, not Japan. Japan may have "revived" pour over coffee in the last two decades or so, but it definitely existed long before it was even popular here in Japan.
Those cold coffee cans must certainly taste better than the awful "energy drinks" people in Europe manage to swallow, to my great astonishment, which are basically water, caffeine and some distasteful artificial flavouring.
the dark chocolate kitkats "otona no amasa" meaning a sweetness level meant for adults -- in other words, less sweet. nothing to do with coffee. there is also a matcha one. the regular & seasonal kitkats are much sweeter, although currently there is a 78% dark chocolate limited kitkat available.
The thing I love about Japan the most, how the young and old clash or maybe gently rub against each other and get along. Hopefully, Japan can continue to preserve their heritage while welcoming change.
So right the Japanese traditional coffee houses serve the best brewed coffee. I had a cup at Inoda in Kyoto and it was delicious and I’m a espresso drinker
The annual consumption of coffee in Japan is significant, but it is far from the 4 million tons you mentioned. In reality, according to data from the International Coffee Organization, the annual consumption of coffee in Japan was about 7.6 million 60kg bags in 2021, which is equivalent to around 456,000 tons of coffee per year. In terms of coffee consumption per capita, Japan is rather in the global average, with an average annual consumption of about 3.3 kg per person. This consumption varies considerably depending on age and gender, and consumption habits can also vary depending on regions of Japan and preferred types of coffee. It is important to note that coffee consumption in Japan has steadily increased in recent years, reflecting the growing popularity of coffee in Japanese culture. However, it is also important to check sources of information and ensure the accuracy of figures before sharing them.
hmm i looked up the stats and one source said _"Historically, coffee consumption per capita in Japan reached an all time high of 3.85 kg in 2006 and an all time low of 0.200 kg in 1961. Japan has been ranked 39th within the group of 158 countries we follow in terms of interest rate on coffee consumption per capita."_ and all the graphs i could find seem to show a plateau in growth going back years
he shared a lot of wrong information.... For example the biggest Starbucks in the world its in Shanghai...you can find that so easy...its on Google. Same with other bits of info like the pour over coffe
What an insanely good episode! I noticed all the coffee chocolate when I was in Japan a few years back, but thought it came after the coffee boom... not as a pre-cursor. Great storytelling, awesome edit, graphics and sound bed. Top work Andy and crew! And I drink locally roasted coffee using an Aeropress - normally medium roast, but light roast using Costa Rican beans if I can find them!
I actually really like Japanese canned coffee. It’s a lot better than what we get in the states. Not as good as a fresh cup, but good for something convenient.
I love coffee and if I could only ever drink japanese canned coffee for the rest of my life, i wouldn't be too bothered because that stuff is way better than it ought to be.
Was in Kyoto/Osaka in Feb…and we missed our direct train from Fushimi to Osaka…and had a 20min wait… Daughter was happy as heck when the vending machine had HOT canned coffee… Right now…both my children have no other destination except Japan…not even Seoul interest them…😅😅😅
Ok the jingle you use at 3 seconds for the vending machine is the earthquake warning sound you get on your TV here in Japan. Absolutely freaked me out for half a second.
My first coffee culture encounter was by the Japanese coffee shops. Their siphon brew was the first technique introduced to me when I was 10 n I wondered that was the only proper way to brew coffee😅. To me, those 70s local Japanese shops are the best in the world, great coffee, always extracting enormous aroma from the beans, n shaped my coffee taste since then. Unfortunately those old shops are disappearing nowadays.
PLEASE don't use that alarm sound that you did at the beginning. For those of us who live in Japan, it is an anxiety-inducing sound, often evoking traumas of the 3.11 earthquake in 2011. Seriously what were you thinking?
I love the Japanese obsessive tendency with things like coffee, analog stereos, paper, etc. Seoul has a great coffee culture, too. It’s not as nth-degree, but you’ll never lack for specialty coffee there.
I live in China, and it is sloooowly becoming a thing here, too, especially now that Yunnan province is becoming increasingly recognized for its unique coffees (very fruity and acidic). Many of the bigger chains that have specialty pour overs as an option almost make it a point to carry a Yunnan coffee, and I think it’s because it’s a lot easier to market a niche thing like that in China if you sprinkle in some national pride.
Greeting from Japan...well, not quite because I'm currently living in the UK to study, but I'm purely Japanese ;) Thanks for such a great video! Let me add some context/small tips as to why Japan is so obsessed with coffee: it might be because most of us have been used to drinking green tea, or just Japanese tea in general, since we were little kids, and this probably built up our tolerance to caffeine. Plus, though canned coffee is a unique part of Japanese coffee culture, we have many other canned/bottled versions of drinks that I've never seen in any other country, not just coffee... Like, did you know Japan has "canned miso soup", "canned curry drink", and even "canned ramen"? Also, it was wonderful to see James comments on our coffee culture in Japan! I got to know him after I moved to the UK, and he really helped me understand the "coffee culture landscape" in the UK. As much as I love Japanese coffee diversity, I also loved the beautiful and sophisticated coffee culture in the UK/Europe :) Thanks for the great video!
the last time i went to japan i didnt really drink coffee so i didnt think to explore kissatens. now that i drink coffee more frequently and have learnt to appreciate it i would love to go to japan again and check out these craft cafes :)
Coffee beans sold and roasted in Japan are primarily grown in countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and other countries with warm climates. Between 1908 and 1924, roughly 35,000 Japanese citizens emigrated to Brazil to work on coffee farms.
Just found this through James Hoffmann, such a well crafted video. As someone who takes a great interest in Japan and coffee, this was just perfect. Thank you for the historical context and the well spent 11 minutes :)
I’ve read “Before the coffee gets cold” which was written in Japan and I learned a bit of coffee culture in there so much so that I would drink coffee while reading the book 😂.
Canned hot coffee from subway machines is very convenient. You walk from subway in winter holding a hot metal can, warming your hands while walking to work or education. Very convenient. And cans have bottle-like caps which prevent too early steam evaporation.
Feel like this is a good introduction, but there’s a lot of opportunity to focus in. For example, it’s not really culture to carry a cup of hot coffee. Taking one on the morning train would be a bad idea. Espresso culture is here, but the culture is drip coffee. The kissaten don’t open for morning coffee on the way to work. There usually aren’t morning coffee places outside a few chains. I think coffee people usually drink that at home. There’s a significant number of small local unbranded neighborhood roasters who serve this market. I saw one described, very accurately, as like a shop out of Zelda in a review. As well there is the curious culture here of going to a cafe alone. Often in the western chains you see rows of individuals tuned inward, studying or working or doing something solo. This is a chair occupation situation. It’s not lunch or a morning tea. It can make full cafes eerily quiet. Coffee snobbery here also seems kinda of limited. As you say coffee is everywhere and while tribes are Tully’s or Starbucks or local or foreign based loyalties like around Kiyosumishirakawa for speciality brand/blends, mostly coffee is coffee. Kissatens are about a retro or luxurious experience, rather than coffee purity. Carrying around a Frappuccino while shopping is an image/experience. The thing that always amazes me is how these local sellers and their chain competition like Kaldi keep their beans fresh with about 20 options of single origin and various blends. The other thing I’ve seen is the late afternoon coffee. I’m not sure if that is peculiar to the place I worked, but I couldn’t drink a strong coffee around 4/5 every day the way these guys did or I’d never sleep. And yeh- no idea how the vending machine / canned and bottled coffee survives. Probably by being considered a separate drink to a cup of coffee- being portable. Perhaps better thought of as what Japanese drink instead of caffeinated soft drinks. Most of it tastes terrible, is full of odd distinctions and differentiations and there is fresh cheap convenience store coffee which is usually a much better option. But the hot ones do warm your hands in winter! I’ve happily moved to drip coffee, but every now and again I crave crema and I still have fond beacon like memories of places that’ll do me a strong macchiato in the morning.
Don't know if it's just me, but the idea of Nestle selling coffee favoured chocolate to kids so that they can buy their products as adults is off putting. Almost invasive in a weird way.
It's coffee flavoured. It was normal in Italy to give coffee flavoured candies to children, and in fact I was allowed to eat Pocket coffee (those coffee pralines made by Ferrero) as a 10 years old child and normal Coca-Cola much before that age. This obsession with coffee as not good for children is something that only belongs to some Northern European (or otherwise Protestant) countries. I don't know why, but I feel Protestantism has something against coffee. Coffee is good for you and for your child, in the right measure, or bad in the wrong measure, just like anything else. Coffee being an extraneous flavour in Japan, the idea of accustoming the Japanese with the flavour of coffee through chocolate and toffee is just right. Imagine a country where chocolate is not part of the culture, but biscuits are, you begin selling chocolate biscuits and people become accustomed to the flavour and then can also like chocolate. Nothing wrong in that.
it pains my coffee-lovin heart that the biggest is yet another Starbux. Because of course it is. But coffee now being in Japan is interesting because, like everything the Japanese do, will be done to perfection, no doubt.
Using the emergency earthquake sound at 0:03 randomly is highly problematic, this is exclusively used in severely life threatening emergencies in Japan. It'll make people flinch who went through the big 2011 earthquake. I'm sure you're not doing it with any bad intentions, but please don't use that sound so lightly.
I saw lots of coffee in Vietnam, and a lot of that was French influenced. When i was there it was around 2014, so this was a taste the Vietnamese had changed over many years.
Hey! Don't use the National Automated Earthquake warning sound in your video. Did you do that on purpose just to get attention? Its like screaming fire in a crowded subway......
Andy, could I leave some constructive criticism regarding your coffee video? It's something I've noticed across several videos and, as a fellow "video explainer-ist" always seeking critique on my work, I thought you might appreciate hearing it! First of all, there's so much working brilliantly: your energy, the editing, the camera work, the topic, the history. Your channel altogether is just so fun and insightful! But if I were your story editor on this specific video, I'd say this draft mimics the experience of being over-caffeinated: energy you can't escape, but a general lack of clear direction. Why, structurely: I think it sits awkwardly between a vlog (enjoying the intimacy of traveling with you) and an explainer (a carefully crafted journey propelled by a compelling question). You show us cool places, but never slow down enough for us to feel like we're exploring them with you. You bring in history, but haven't set up a clear enough question for us to really want to learn it. To be clear, this is video is 95% of the way there, it's just missing a final tightening that'd make a big difference. Why, in terms of creative process: if I had to diagnose this in terms of your creative process, I'd guess you find these topics inherently fascinating, and thus forget to set up the motivation for a broader audience. You overlook asking: if I'm not already curious about coffee & Japan, why should I care? If you were making timely news videos (eg Johnny at Venezuela's border), I think your current approach would be sufficient: "Why do we care? Because it's breaking news!" But for these evergreen videos, I think you have a much bigger burden of setting up a motivation. The fix: As your story editor on this particular story, I'd want you to open by teasing out a strong sense of ironic tension that'd power the rest of the video. Basically, place center stage the irony of: - 250+ years of isolationist foreign policy VS currently being inundated by brands selling a bean that originated nowhere near the island - a rich history of tea drinking VS the current dominance of coffee - the availability of coffee in (say) the UK vs Japan [ie because humans don't measure, we compare. So give us something to compare to! :)] Then I'd want you to spell out clearly, "These opposites & extremes make no sense. We're clearly missing something big. Something that reveals a deeper truth about X. Let's go!" To be fair, right now I see you attempting to set up a motivating tension in several places: 1. "but tea has been a staple of Japanese culture" 2. teasing the bit about sex workers being gifted coffee 3. "and to find out what role it plays in modern-day society" But these feel more like going through the motions than actually setting up a clear tension: 1. If tea vs coffee really is core to your driving question, you need to make this argument early on & visually: Count coffee offerings vs tea offerings on menus. Show a movie scene depicting Japanese people drinking tea, then cut to actual Japanese people drinking coffee in droves. 2. For your sex worker tease in the opening, you say "this isn't something [the Japanese] expected would happen". But really, your job in the intro is show the viewer something *they* didn't expect to happen. 3. While someone already interested in coffee or Japan may want to find out the role coffee plays in Japanese culture, this is a nebulous premise for everyone else. It should be tightened around your core question more effectively: something like, "What does this explosion of a new product onto the market reveal about deeper cultural shifts in Japan?" This is both more coherent, but also sets up a clear story promise.
One framework for explainers I've been using is that of three layers: surface: visual evidence middle: the (historical) processes/systems at work base: a deeper truth about humans/society _________ No video needs to be perfect, but this lack of clear "Here's why you should care" is something I've noticed across several videos (eg the Mexican water crisis). I suspect that, as you motivate your videos with questions beyond the topics themselves, your excellent work will reach an even larger audience! Thank you for your work!
This is very interesting. I've got ADHD and I felt right at home with this video style, energy, and format, but us ADHDers are only like 5% of the population.
@@Camdavis11 Good point, it is pretty detailed. Basically, I was pondering if a more explicit ironic tension plus hinting at a deeper idea in the intro would help motivate the rest of the video even better 😀
Please don't use the earthquake early warning alarm as a sound effect! Scared the crap out of me when I heard it as I immediately whipped my head around to check the TV. Not something I like hearing out of the blue.
I went to Japan, and had some darn good coffee in a cafe that was open daily from 11:00-17:00. On one hand, how do they stay afloat? On the other, words cannot fully describe my desire to live in a culture where someone can make a living wage with those working hours.
I went to two Kissatens while in Tokyo and absolutely loved both roasts. But what I'm missing is the vending machines selling green tea AND coffee. Much better coffee from a vending machine than you get here in Germany at most bakeries and train stations.
Interesting subject but can’t help feeling its quite disjointed and surface level. Would be interesting to know how much coffee people were buying with each wave and when it was on the fringes pre coffee chocolate who was drinking it. Pour over is a cornerstone of third wave specialty coffee and it’s just completely glossed over that it was invented in japan!?
Grew up in Japan but I would never have thought Japan is the third biggest coffee consuming country! We might drink a lot of coffee, but I feel like there are a lot less coffee connossier or nerds compared to the US or Western Europe. As you mentioned about the high sale of instant coffee in Japan, most people are fine with it and buying canned coffee when on the go. (It's not as common to take away a coffee cup everyday for work from shops like Starbucks, those are more of a luxury when you need somewhere to sit bc there aren't many public benches in Japan.) Not many house holds have mocha pots or cafetieres either, but drip coffee bags are a popular choice when making coffee at home.
This is the typical idiotic statistics. Japan has a very large population, and taking the absolute consumption doesn't mean anything, you have to consider the pro capite consumption if you want to know how deep coffee is engrained into local culture. The Japanese are average coffee consumers. They do not rank in the first 10 countries in consumption pro capite, which are Northern European countries, Finland having the largest pro capite consumption in the world, but Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland rank very high. Basically: European countries with a cold weather, plus Canada. Italy has a peculiar coffee culture (being the birth country of espresso and Moka, which are now widespread all over the place) but has an overall average coffee consumption, and so has Japan. As an Italian I can say that I noticed since I was a child the Germans drink much more coffee. We had some German friends as hosts in our house and they would drink Moka coffee as it was Nescafé :-)
@@uffa00001 yeah thought so 😅 I still think tea (not black tea, but green tea or barley tea) is the inoffensive, everyday drink Japanese people reach out for, just like it's the drink people serve for visitors at home or in offices. Black tea or coffee feels more fancy.
Of course we are obsessed with coffee. A typical work day requires 4 cups. Wake up at 6 (Coffee) Leave by 7 Get to work by 9 (Coffee) Lunch break at 12-1 (Coffee) 1-4 work (Coffee) 5-8 informal company drinking / stay at office for overtime. Get home by 10-11 Sleep at 12 A typical days work. repeat that 300 times a year, for 45 years.
…and me & dotter stumbled on an old school Kissaten in a building in Umeda when my son was shopping for vintage vinyl records!! Absolutely loved that hole in the wall Kissaten… And Doutor is our favourite coffee chain now 😅😅😅😅 Can’t wait to return to Osaka & Kyoto next year!!
Australians have a heritage of coffee brought here by the Greeks, Italians, Spanish and French, going back to the 1950's. Starbucks failed in Australia because none of us drink drip-filtered coffee, and we would not pay for such swill. I hear it is because, in the US, 120v electricity supply takes water kettles 30 minutes to boil water.
japan's coffee shops are nice but usually they don't have decaf... I'm sensitive to caffeine and can't drink caffeinated coffee, but I love a good decaf latte. it was hard to find much at the local places and resorted to the big names like starbucks.
Japan made me appreciate mild roast and subtle flavours in coffee. The relative weakness was a virtue. My usual was a doppio espresso but now I order“tsuyoi ko-hi” (a bad translation of strong coffee) to get the equivalent of a long black.
Great piece, but you missed the history of coffee in the 1900-1935 period, and the role it played as a gathering for intellectuals in Ginza and as a centre of resistance in Kyoto. Both locations have the oldest Kissatens and can still be visited today.
I am a Japanese who is ignorant about the history of coffee in Japan, but I believe that originally there was a culture of tea in Japan for temporary rest during the day, which combined with that, coffee became an option. And before chain stores such as Starbucks, Doutor, etc. became established as they are today, privately owned jazz cafes were a big part of the coffee culture.
Such lovely footage and piecing together but I can't get into the 60 cuts per minute type of editing. Your footage is old school kissaten, but the hyper editing is instant nescafé. This video could have been much more enjoyable by being stretched 10 more minutes!
Nice video but a bit high level. I live in Tokyo and am into coffee. The video doesn't deal with the explosion of third wave speciality coffee shops/roasters. 10 years ago you had to work really hard to find decent coffee in Tokyo. These days there is so much choice!
New Zealand also has a interesting relationship with coffee, starbucks even failed to become popular here because their coffee wasn't good enough for us. 😅
8:40 can't believe starbucks still have that Sumatra Lake Toba as an origin in their line up. Unless they grow coffee like lotus there, there is no coffee in (or on) the lake.
I have been to that Starbucks in japan, right on Shibuya Crossing. I got a table on the second or third floor, looking out over the crossing. Was a great way to unwind and just watch Japanese people and tourists go past that famous street crossing
pronouncing Ryo as Raiyo is such a minus when you can do proper research or check with google or check with the people you speak to for god's sake you're in Japan.
It looks as if a lot of research went into making this, but it's a shame that we didn't get to see most of it. Seems as if this barely scratched the surface.
The thing though is the home coffee culture in Japan still has a lot more room to grow. Sure instant and drip coffee is available but good espresso machines for home use is very hard to come by. There are some but options are slim.
Theres a ton of third wave roasters in japan so You're going to have to import those if you have an interest for home cafe type stuff. Usually a supplier in Japan would help you out with the order process. Not hard to come by at all
It was Japan where I got my taste for coffee, couldn’t stand it before, but I needed to neck cafffee au les to wake up on early shifts. I later had a fresh black brew from a machine in a hotel and I’ve been drinking it black ever since
It's not that weird, to have access to coffee at all times of the day and night; it's the case in most countries today. If the coffee shops and supermarkets are closed and you can't buy coffee from there, there will always be a convenience store, a gas station or one of those Nescafe coffee machines, placed on some street corner
