At first, Japanese saw coffee the same way many Westerners think of green tea - as an exotic drink connected with a fascinating foreign culture, not the refreshing everyday beverage that it actually is. Over the years, however, more and more Japanese switched from rice and miso soup to bread and coffee (and, sometimes, salad as a side dish) for breakfast.
Coffee now seems to have the same status as bancha (low-grade tea); it has become a necessity of life.
It is not difficult to find good coffee in Japan . Though it has more of a reputation as a country of tea drinkers, coffee is very popular in Japan . There are many small coffee shops selling a variety of coffees and teas. Cans of coffee are also available at literally millions of vending machines all over the country. If you go to a coffee shop in Japan , you will find many different kinds of beans
Consumption has soared during the last 40 years. It now exceeds 6 million bags compared to 250,000 bags at the beginning of the 1960s. Initially, use was mainly confined to richer adult urban dwellers but impetus was gained from four major factors:
• A marked change in society with some "westernisation" of consumption habits;
• Rising living standards;
• The promotion and skilful marketing of soluble coffee;
• The establishment and development of attractive coffee bars.
Though these four factors provided a substantial product base, further growth has been generated from a marked improvement in quality and innovations designed for convenience.
The Japanese coffee industry is confident that further progress can be made and, if problems mainly associated with the price and quality of the raw material can be overcome, consumption may approach 7 million bags annually by the early years of this century.
In the past, regular coffee was consumed mainly in restaurants and instant coffee was consumed mainly in the home. In recent years, however, people have come to drink regular coffee even in their homes, which has resulted in the demand for regular coffee to grow at the expense of instant coffee.
