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to coffee. Shortly thereafter the colonies broke away from were opened in the first half of the 1900s, and by 1930s it
the British rule and became an independent nation. The became easy for the average person to drink coffee casu-
tea tax is ultimately responsible for creating a nation of ally but only in a coffee shop.
coffee drinkers. One big factor that helped to promote coffee drink-
The highest coffee consumption was in the mid 1950’s ing was the “kissaten boom” in Japan in 70s, where many
in the home. At that time, every home featured a percolator coffee shops started popping up and the number of
and coffee was served with every meal and whenever guests places where you could drink coffee began to increase.
arrived. Housewives took pride in brewing and serving A kissaten was a coffee and tea shop, which was a place
coffee. “Although my mom worked, she took pride and to talk as well as to do business so it also played the role
enjoyed her quiet time with a cup of coffee”, says Sherri of a social hub.
Johns. “ Three times a day the percolator bubbled a tune of As the volume of import to Japan increased, it became
its own. When ready, the brewer would be brought to the possible to sell coffee to households and develop new
table and served hot and black.” Cafes, also known as Cof- packaging. People bought relatively cheap pre-ground
fee Shops, also served coffee and were not like the third coffee at places such as supermarkets, and brewed it using
wave of today but were generally more like diners of the fully automated household coffee makers. Many people
1950’s style which served late night meals and hot black also preferred instant coffee.
coffee. It was a generation which returned from the Second “Currently, I think, that quality is getting higher than
World War to reasonable prosperity and happy homecom- before as many people buy coffee at specialty coffee shops
ings. Coffee had been rationed during the war, percolator or order coffee online on the internet. The proportion of
was the most common, also French press and vacuum pot. people that drink specialty has become considerably high-
“Cowboys out west, brewed Campfire coffee in large met- er. There has been an increase in the demographic that
al pots over an open fire. Course ground coffee was put choose to brew coffee themselves if they cannot find a
into the pot of boiling water, (no filters) and brewed by good cup in shops. Another factor is that brewing coffee
the “cookie” (Chuckwagon cook). The tired cowboys would at home is becoming a stylish habit,” says Yoshiharu Saka-
stay wake and warm through the night with coffee. There moto. You will probably find at least one paper filter
were less options to drink coffee out of the home.” Now, it brewer per household in Japan. Recently, the country has
seems like the whole other story. been experiencing an unprecedented coffee boom, and drip
With cafe culture booming around the US, there are brewers like Kalita and Hario have made their way into
still people that prefer to drink coffee at home. Main reasons many homes. “Although it cannot be said that the overall
are ritual, pleasure, convenience or cost. Some or all the skill level is extremely high, I think, that there is a big group
above. You can buy an expensive kettle and pour over, of people that pays a lot of attention to their brewing
roasted beans for $100 per pound and have every gadget methods. Proof of this can be seen in the increased number
known to man about coffee but the older generation is most of Japanese coffee books and fashion magazines with cof-
likely to stay home and brew in a simple way. The younger fee features. I think that this is an area that will continue
generation will mostly enjoy coffee manually brewed or to grow in the future.” Specialty coffee is definitely grow-
out in cafes, experimenting with brewing methods and ing market share for home use. Previously, it was common
specific origins. “Me, I begin my day with a brewed at home to buy inexpensive coffee at supermarkets, but now through
coffee then I make my way to a café and continue the rit- the internet you can buy coffee from any shop you wish,
ual,” says Sherri. no matter where you are in Japan. You can see evidence of
this in the growing number of specialty coffee shops in
Japan Japan that are in fact just “coffee bean shops”, as they even
have no furniture inside, but still make the profit.
First coffee in Japan appeared in Nagasaki, in the is- Nevertheless, coffee drinkers sometimes might say
land of Kyushu. According to the literature from that time, that coffee at home tastes different from what a barista can
it was introduced by the Dutch in 1847. In the early days prepare for them. Home brewed coffee can be just as de-
when it just appeared, local people could enjoy it only in licious as café brewed using the same level of standards
Dutch trading centres and it was famous for being “burnt must be observed. Buying fresh, grind fresh before brewing,
and hard to taste”, which probably meant that coffee was use proper water to coffee ration and store properly. Pre
roasted very dark. But it wasn’t until decades later that heat the brewing vessel and dampen paper filter If one is
coffee began to be imported commercially. Initially in 1877, used). Many consumers find they cannot get the same
only 18 tons of coffee were imported to Japan, comparing flavour as their favourite café but often it is the water or
to 430,000 tons in 2016; so we can clearly see that coffee brewing temperature not achieved or an improper grind
was a luxury bevarage. Step by step, several coffee shops or lack of freshness in coffee beans.

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