Japan

Blue Bottle Coffee founder James Freeman's immediate interest in Japanese coffee shop culture was sparked by a 2008 tour of Tokyo coffee shops accompanied by a friend who worked at UCC in San Francisco.

He credits his visit to coffee shops such as "Chatei Hatou" in Shibuya, "Cafe de Rambre" in Ginza, and "Daibo Coffee Shop" in Omotesando, which he visited with his friend, who also worked at UCC in San Francisco, as a turning point for him.

Convenience stores sell canned coffee and self-service coffee from coffee machines. They also sell drip bags and other coffee machines, but for the convenience of being able to drink it on the spot, canned coffee or machine coffee are the best.

Canned coffee is excellent for long-term storage because it's stored in a can, which is why it's popular not only at convenience stores but also at mass retailers and vending machines.

Self-service coffee machines grind and brew the beans on the spot in a coffee maker, allowing you to enjoy a fresh aroma and flavor.

UCC canned coffee became famous nationwide at the 1970 Osaka Expo and was a huge hit.
The UCC Coffee with Milk from that time is still on sale today and is a symbolic UCC product.
As the name UCC Ueshima Coffee suggests, UCC was founded by Mr. Ueshima, and its origins date back to 1933 when Ueshima Tadao Shoten opened in Kobe.
It seems that it was common in 1933 for a store name to include the president's full name.

Canned coffee is a standard item in drink vending machines.
While the brands stocked vary depending on the vending machine, most brands have canned coffee.
Even if they don't carry cola, canned coffee is often available.

Coffee manufacturers began developing canned coffee commercially in the 1950s. There was likely demand for coffee that could be stored for a long time and enjoyed easily at any time.

Major convenience stores have a large number of stores, with Starbucks having 2,000 stores in Japan and 7-Eleven having 20,000.
Starbucks is a major cafe chain and has the largest number of stores in Japan, but the huge distribution network of convenience stores far surpasses even those of major cafe chains.
FamilyMart has 16,000 stores and Lawson has 14,000, so if each of these stores had a cafe, they would be the largest cafes.
The beans supplied to these stores by roasters are also on a large scale.

One of the reasons for the rise of convenience store coffee is the improvement of coffee machines.
While Seven-Eleven's coffee machines previously required customers to choose the size of their coffee when brewing, the machine automatically determines the size and brews the coffee when a cup is placed in the machine.
Improvements have been made to improve service, including adjustment of brewing temperature, precise control over bean grinding, and multilingual touchscreens.

Major convenience stores have coffee machines where you can drink delicious coffee for around 100 to 200 yen.
These coffee machines are designed to brew coffee that is unique to each convenience store.
7-Eleven has been offering self-service coffee on and off since around 1980.
Furthermore, Lawson and Ministop have been offering pre-made coffee since the 2000s.
In 2011, Lawson launched a cafe-like service with an emphasis on customer service, where staff serve freshly brewed coffee, under the concept of a "machi café."