Book description
This fascinating book - part ethnography, part memoir - traces Japan's vibrant cafe society over one hundred and thirty years. Merry White traces Japan's coffee craze from the turn of the twentieth century, when Japan helped to launch the Brazilian coffee industry, to the present day, as uniquely Japanese ways…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Coffee Life in Japan as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This deeper exploration of coffee culture in Japan, a place we all associate with tea, is an interesting and surprising read. The author’s time in Japan serves as the backbone for exploring aspects of gender, perfectionism, and how the cafe in Japan helps people stay punctual.
From James' list on coffee lovers.
While one probably associates tea drinking with Japan more than coffee, Japan is now the third-largest coffee-consuming country in the world, surpassed only by the USA and Germany. Written by an anthropologist, White’s book serves as both an ethnography and a history of coffee life in modern Japan. Coffee came later to Japan than it did to Europe, being introduced only in the later nineteenth century. Here you will learn how coffee came to be associated with global modernity in Japan as well as how Japanese cafés came to serve a key role as centers of urban sociability and for…
From Brian's list on the history of coffee and coffeehouses.
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