By the time the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, Nescafé was already in the emergency rations of every departing U.S. soldier , so the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who occupied Japan from 1945-1952 would have been familiar with it and likely brought it with them.
However, coffee didn't immediately become popular in Japan. During World War II, the Japanese government established a ban on coffee imports that lasted until 1950 , which limited its availability during the early occupation period.
Coffee really began to weave its way back into Japanese markets in the 1960s.
In Japan, imports of instant coffee began in the 1950s when imports resumed after the war.
However, the government imposed import restrictions in order to save foreign currency.
Meanwhile, in 1960, Morinaga & Co. released Japan's first domestically produced instant coffee.
Japan then liberalized instant coffee imports in July 1961.
After that, foreign brands such as Nescafé began to be sold in Japan in earnest.
So while American soldiers did introduce Nescafé to Japan right after WWII through CARE packages and their presence, it took several decades before coffee truly caught on with Japanese consumers.
This is a 1960s Nescafé TV commercial .
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