Tokyo cafe report: Live Coffee

Kichijoji; one of the most popular neighborhoods in Tokyo. There are hundreds of small shops & businesses on the uncountable numbers of narrow streets. 

Small coffee shop Live Coffee is also one of them. It's such a tiny space where only 6 or 7 people can sit at a small table, but its atmosphere is not so stuffy. One of the reasons is simply because they keep the doors open, but another is coffee aroma which hangs in the air inside. Stepping into the store, you can detect it clearly.

When I ordered iced coffee at a counter, the staff who took my order looked a bit unfriendly, focusing on his daily routine at the shop. However, once we started a conversation, he turned out to be a really nice guy with professionalism.

Basically, he might not be so talkative, but he kindly kept talking with me about coffee & the vision for the future of Japanese coffee market. It seems to me that the coffee market in Japan has been really good over the last 6 or 7 years, but he is concerned about the restlessness with a variety of short-lived trends there. 

"When one trend emerges, another quickly comes in & replaces before the first one is solidly rooted. Unfortunately, it looks like a fashion trend where everyone is always pursuing the western style, namely, what Americans invent & do"

"I'm not saying American style is bad, but we Japanese definitely have a different type of preference in taste. So it's not always best to follow their sense of value" he added.

I  thought his down-to-earth view well represents company's over 60 years history.

Thanks for reading.

Posted by 3e-Tokyo

store data:

Live Coffee Kichijoji

open: 7:30am-8:00pm / 365 days

menu: menu list