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The 15-year-old dropped out of school and opened a shop to bake coffee but was said to be rude. He turned out to be autistic.

Published: 2026-04-21 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/04/21, Professional baristas Please follow the Coffee Workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style) there is a special coffee shop in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. When I walk into it, I find that the manager is Iwano Hibiki, a 15-year-old boy suffering from Asperger's syndrome (AS). Since the second year of junior high school, he has fallen in love with coffee with layered smell and spends five hours a day learning to roast coffee beans.

Professional barista communication, please pay attention to coffee workshop (Weixin Official Accounts cafe_style)

There is a special coffee shop in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. When you walk in, you find that the manager is Iwano Hibiki, a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome (AS). Since his second year of high school, he has fallen in love with coffee with rich smell and spends five hours a day learning to roast coffee beans. This year, instead of going to high school, he opened his own coffee shop with the help of his parents.

According to livedoor NEWS, Iwano's cafe, called HORIZON LABO, opened this spring. At first, his parents thought that his son only needed to earn 500 yen (about NT$130) a day to maintain his expenses, and did not expose his Asperger's syndrome to customers. Later, he relied on his own skills to make the popularity of the cafe rise rapidly and attract many customers.

Iwano was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in grade 3 of elementary school. He refused to participate in junior high school classes and stayed at home. However, his love for coffee was discovered by his parents later. He was also very sensitive to taste and could do things that he was interested in for a long time.

However, because the outside world is not clear about Iwano's condition, he has also questioned him, such as saying that he has poor manners in restaurants, or relying on his parents to open a shop instead of going to school. Despite this, he concentrated on roasting coffee beans, continuously improving his skills, and then publicized his special situation to attract media coverage.

The coffee shop's website currently writes that the store is temporarily closed and will open online coffee bean purchase services in October.

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