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Japanese Coffee Culture and History

Published: 2026-01-13 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/01/13, The first coffee spread to Japan was Nagasaki in the Yuanlu period. And people officially accepted it from the Meiji era. Now let's take a look at the coffee history of Japan. At first, the Japanese were not used to the coffee shop opening one after another in Western Europe, when the literature and art of coffee culture were in full bloom, while Japan was in the strict lock-up policy of the Edo era.

The first coffee spread to Japan was Nagasaki in the Yuanlu period. And people officially accepted it from the Meiji era. Now let's take a look at the coffee history of Japan.

At first, the Japanese were not used to the successive opening of coffee houses in Western Europe, when the literature and art of coffee culture were in bloom, while Japan was in the midst of the strict policy of locking up countries in the Edo era. Coffee, the first drink at that time, was set up at the Dutch store off the island of Nagasaki (1641) and presumed to have been brought in at that time. However, those who can get in touch with foreigners are servants (officials), businessmen, interpreters and tourist girls. Two or three interpreters of Zunberu's Journey to Japan recorded in 1776 finally knew the delicacy of coffee. "Coffee", which specially spread to the island to symbolize foreign culture, could not be popularized at that time. "

The Japanese drink coffee is a crazy singer and opera writer in 1804. In the book Qiongpu, the people of Shushan in Daejeon were invited to drink coffee on a red-haired boat. the beans were fried black and powdered and mixed with sugar, and the bitter smell could not adapt to the bitterness. from the background of coffee imported from the island and can not be widely accepted, the lock-in policy has indeed affected the Japanese people's unaccustomed to the taste of the new drink.

Sisamert, who went to the Dutch residence on the island in Japan in 1823, seems to like coffee. In the book "Edo to visit the House", it is recorded that "when the Japanese get along with us, they like to drink coffee."

The real popularity began in the middle of Meiji. Members of the founding literary magazine Hiroshi Kitahara, Woodpecker Ishikawa, Kwangtaro Takamura, Haruo Sato, and Hefeng Nagai meet each month at the "Hung Nest" venue in Hashimachi, Japan. In that shop, you can drink authentic French cuisine and foreign wine, and coffee is also authentic French deep-roasted coffee. The nest of Hong is like a social field for literati.

From the Meiji era to the Taisho era, cultural salons like this did help create several coffee houses, and Japan finally entered the culture of coffee. However, it is still a rare shop for ordinary people.

The coffee salon formed at that time was a social place for literati or literary youth, but at the same time affordable coffee houses were popular unwittingly. In the heyday of the Taisho era, there were more than 20 branches across the country. Why is the coffee salon so popular? Because the coffee in the high-end western restaurant cost 15 yuan at that time, while imitating the coffee shop in Paris or New York, a cup of low-priced coffee with 5 yuan was thoroughly implemented. So you can have authentic and fragrant Brazilian coffee at a price of 1/3. In the national well-known coffee salon, it is hard to count the Japanese who have tasted delicious coffee. Coffee salon has left an indelible contribution to popular coffee.

In the Taisho era, the number of coffee lovers did increase a lot, and it became more popular in the Showa era, but World War II stopped importing coffee because it was an "enemy drink." In Japanese life, coffee disappeared for a moment. Coffee is appreciated and loved by people as "messengers of peace".

At present, the competition in the Japanese coffee market is very fierce. Including tea shop and family coffee and instant coffee, home coffee and office coffee, all kinds of canned coffee, plus hospitality coffee, delicious coffee and so on. Especially in the Pingcheng era, the more authentic demand for coffee has also increased.