Japan is an enigma; timeless and yet constantly in a hurry. There are never enough hours in the day to do what you need to do in Tokyo and is it wonder then that the world's most popular beverage has become the vital heart beat of a nation that always seems to be on the go! Just a mention of the word Japan conjures up images of corporate Tokyo, bustling office workers streaming in and out of Tokyo shiny glass buildings; always in a hurry to get
somewhere and always within a whirl of trying to catch up. Lost for time and timeless with its beautiful temples, palaces, gardens and temples and Zen retreats; Japan to the outsider is always going to be an endless contradiction but where miraculously harmony holds as modernity is bound by tradition. Since Japan embarked upon the post war reconstruction and with the economic boom of the 1950's it comes as no surprise that the Japanese would come to adopt one of the most revered of global beverage phenomena; that being the adoption of a coffee drinking culture to satisfy the thirst and invigorate the spirit of the hard working, long hours enduring, Japanese 'salary man'. But even with this new coffee drinking culture that launched itself in Japan in the 1950's, long long ago the Japanese did encounter the coffee beverage but looked upon it with disdain as with most other Western ideas, long ago in a time when Imperial Japan looked inward and not without.
The first foreign traders were the Portuguese in the 17th century. But it was not until the Dutch traders arriving in Japan in the 18th century that a trading colony quickly grew and consolidated as a Dutch trading colony at Dejima near the town of Nagasaki. Dejima was an artificial
island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. the tiny peninsula was built during the Japanese Edo period purposefully for allowing foreign traders to come solely to this single point for trade and not enter into Japan. Trade took along time to establish during the Edo period. but when the Edo period ended in 1868 with the assumption of the Meji restoration, the isolationist policy of the former shogunate was abandoned. Thereafter it took a a little time for japan step by step to welcome foreign traders and new ideas. It was not until 1888 that the very first coffee shop could open in Tokyo. Such was the conservatism against foreign ideas that would take time to merge into Japanese cultural practices.
Not surprisingly, given the backdrop of social conservatism in Japan, the coffee drinking culture in Japan didn't really take off until the post World War 11 economic miracle of the 1950's. This was a new age and Japan needed to reinvent itself into the international community; an age where economic power needed to be re-established as mass production and labor emerged upon the new American corporate model and creed. this was largely because Japan could not embrace foreign ideas so readily before the wars changed the face and structure of society in Japan. Koh-hee became the common Japanese word during this time for coffee which is obviously a derivative of English coffee and Dutch word koffie.
As a cultural beverage Koh-hee started off in japan in similar fashion as Japanese tea drinking with ceremony and strict guidelines. However for the modern Japanese it became clear that such fashion of rigidity would never really adhere especially since the beverage is not even Japanese in the very first place! Koh-hee can be a drink for special occasions as a show of respect to a friend, colleague or used in a romantic encounter. Koh-hee is prepared with attention. It's beans are carefully selected and roasted and ground and blended with delicate care. it is then served formally and with respect to etiquette where one must never gulp in haste but sip gently as in similar fashion with the culture of tea. Moreover the intimacy of the coffee drink can be demonstrated in its choice of language where instead of generally asking a friend to come join you for coffee, as in Europe, in Japan one would normally express oneself with the desire to treat a friend "ogotte ageru" to Koh-hee.
As a commercial beverage Koh-hee became successful with the advent of television as the perfect marketing medium for the concept of instant coffee, which had already seen Nescafe commercially take off in the USA and Europe 1950's. Japan released the world’s first canned coffee and suitably the first coffee in a can to appear was called the 'Mira Coffee'. But it did not prove to be popular at all with the public. A few years after that UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. released a better version of the can coffee and became an instant success.
In 1973, the first hot and cold beverage vending machines were introduced to Japan to cater top the burgeoning office worker crowd. The machine became very popular and took 100 yen coins and since then Tokyo has never look back as the culture of coffee spread throughout Japan. Japanese coffee houses have been very slow to emerge due to the predominance of the tea drinking culture and traditional opinions that were largely prevalent prior to the war.
The Doutor Coffee chain of cafes opened their first store in 1980 to cater largely to the office crowds with Japanese now in its heyday of economic power. Doutor became the forerunner of Starbucks in Japan anticipating that stressed out workers would seek the refuge of cafes. Today Japan is uniquely know for its wide range of theme cafes from
scantily clad maids to hug a friend concept to pet cat lounging places
of solitude. If you ever do happen to visit Tokyo try the friendly pet cafe with its cat theme - Nakano, the North Exit of Nakano Station and along Nakano Avenue. Another such notable cat cafe is at Shinjuku, East Exit of Shinjuku Station on Yasukuni Avenue. Other uniquely Japanese themes which are quite popular n the innovative world of Japanese concept coffee, are the maid cafes of Tokyo. Undoubtedly
challenging to the foreign visitor Tokyo eventually grows on you and even the most bizarre and odd becomes appreciated. The Japanese maid cafe themes once again demonstrate the Japanese openness to all forms of marketing techniques to bring people in and have a decent cup of coffee. Quite amusingly, well known maid cafes in Tokyo, publish several rules of etiquette upon entering their establishments, more or less designed to keep stressed Tokyo office workers within the general spirit of the theme. Try Cafe Doll in Tokyo Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara station in Sotokanda Chiyoda-ward or JAM AKIHABARA where the maids actually dress as fairies again in the same ward, Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara station.
Talking about instant coffee in Japan, a quite sure in Europe that most people are now familiar with the odd pencil shaped sachets of instant coffee that are appearing on sale. Well, if you haven't, Nescafe have recently come up with
long thin sachets of instant coffee as an alternative marketing gimmick to the
familiar rectangular shaped sachets. . But did you know that the new Nescafe sachets are actually in response to the Japanese version known in the east as Blendy Stick? Yes, that's right - Blendy Stick! Always at the forefront and always unique Japan does not shirk form venturing
into new ideas to promote the world's most popular beverage today. Well people do stick their pens and pencils in their shirt breast pocket don't they? Since corporate Japan has now become one of the biggest importers of coffee in the world today it's not surprising that Japanese marketing executives will stretch the bounds of imagination to come up with some new practical idea of carrying the world's most popular beverage in the pocket! No matter how bizarre the Japanese consumer will try it! 'Blendy Stick' is a combo instant coffee creamer concocted by the
Ajinomoto General Foods and which comes in several flavors and is the most popular Japanese instant cafe over Nescafe and other western products in japan today.
Finally, taking a look at some vital and interesting statistics, did you know that Japan is the 3rd largest importer of coffee at 3.2 kg per individual? That is a healthy number which is only behind 2nd placed Germany at 4.23 kg per capita by a shade and of course the 1st placed USA at an incredible 6.93 kg per capita. So what does this mean to the layman? generally speaking, this translates to approximately 440,000 tonnes of coffee imported annually into Japan, or 7% of the world’s entire annual coffee export.
Reflections on coffee culture around the world - Pieter Bergli, cafe enthusiast and historian
My Art Musings
