How Shibuya made its mark
as a Coffee Town

Vol.15 Atsushi Sakao(Head of ONIBUS)

2024.03.10

Take a stroll around Shibuya and you are bound to encounter several coffee shops. From global chains to individual stores full of personality, more and more stores are offering specialty coffees. But it is only in the
last decade that Shibuya has grown rapidly as a coffee town. The driving force behind this trend has been progressive coffee shops such as ONIBUS COFFEE. Atsushi Sakao opened his first store in Okusawa in
2012, then expanded to Dogenzaka as ABOUT LIFE COFFEE BREWERS. He also has a coffee stand on the first floor of "all day place Shibuya". While strolling the streets together, we learned about how this coffee shop proprietor views Shibuya.

Coffee Culture
from the streets of Shibuya

With deft movements, Atsushi Sakao brewed us hand-drip coffee. The beans are specialty coffees that are roasted in-house and are all sustainably traded by personally visiting farms in Central and South America. At the counter of ABOUT LIFE COFFEE BREWERS SHIBUYA 1-Chome, he appeared to be feeling the bustling vibe in the store:
“There’s a palpable energy in Shibuya due to so many young people and customers from overseas. At Okusawa's ONIBUS COFFEE though, more than 90% of the customers are local regulars; I wanted to spread coffee culture further, so I opened a store in Shibuya with its diverse population.“

Aiming for a third place like
those he experienced in Australia

Sakao-san recalls traveling to Australia in 2006 and being struck by the culture of the coffee-advanced city. “In Melbourne, coffee shops were ubiquitous - a life of drinking good coee while engaging in casual
conversation with baristas and regulars. I was inspired by how a single cup of coffee could brighten up one's day, and decided to open my own store someday.” Ideally, the space should be welcoming and open to the
city. While not a coee shop, he cited a singular bistro as an example.
"PATH" in Yoyogi Hachiman offers homemade pate de campagne and sandwiches in the morning and turns into a wine bar at night. Everything, including the interior, is of excellent quality. I think it is an attractive
all-day dining restaurant that becomes a fixture in one's
daily life.”

Still a loyal patron of
Shibuya coee joints

In the same year that Sakao-san founded ONIBUS COFFEE as a coffee shop open to the streets, FUGLEN TOKYO landed in Shibuya as its first Japanese store. “They have a penchant for vintage Scandinavian-based
designs.The space is professional down to the smallest details, such as the wooden sashes and the height of the countertops." While he drinks coffee at his own store everyday, he mentioned one more coffee shop that remains a destination for him. I was most inspired by the BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR COFFEE KIOSK in Sendagaya, a pioneering coffee joint
that opened in 2010. At that time there was a dearth of information about coffee, so we often swapped notes in the store. Do you mind if I grab a quick espresso there today, too?"

Words of exhortation
from fellow Shibuya bartenders

“It's really only in the last decade that the number of coffee shops in Tokyo has increased. Nowadays, customers are gradually becoming aware of the differences in the degree of roasting and country of
production of coffee beans, as well as the existence of specialty coffees; the number of customers who buy coffee beans for home use has risen dramatically. But compared to Melbourne, it's not there yet. If more and
more small and medium-sized businesses and individual stores like ours were to open, I think Shibuya could become a coffee town second to none in the world.”
Sakao-san adds that Shibuya is on the cutting edge of cuisine, and not limited to coffee. In the evening, he often enjoys a cocktail at "Bar werk" or a glass of natural wine at "Le cabaret". He describes the appeal of these establishments as being open and welcoming, where customers can easily t in, while feeling a sense of professionalism in both the drinks, service, and atmosphere.
So how do those store owners perceive Sakao-san's coffee shop? Genta Narita of "Bar Werk," an old friend, enlightened us at the end of the
interview. “Sakao-san's store is not manual-oriented, and the love of coffee can be gauged from the casual conversation among staff members that percolates the atmosphere. I'm convinced that he already embodies the coffee culture that he admired so much.”

ABOUT LIFE COFFEE BREWERS in Shibuya 1-chome offers coffee
as well as espresso beverages.

List

1	ABOUT LIFE COFFEE BREWERS Shibuya 1-chome 1-17-1, Shibuya, Shibuya-ku ☎︎03-6451-1716 Official Web↗ @aboutlifecoeebrewers First floor of "all day place," open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00<br />p.m., with the attached "Mikkeller Kiosk/Bar" open from<br />noon to midnight.
2	PATH 1-44-2 Tomigaya, Shibuya-ku ☎︎03-6407-0011 @path_restaurant_ Popular bistro beside Yoyogi Koen Station.From morning to dinner, enjoy authentic<br />flavors in a casual setting.
3	FUGLEN TOKYO 1-16-11 Tomigaya, Shibuya-ku ☎︎03-3481-0884 Official Web↗ Norwegian coffee roastery based in Oslo opened its first cafe outside of Norway in 2012.Cocktails are also served during dinner hours.
4	BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR COFFEE KIOSK Sendagaya Store 3-51-6 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku ☎︎03-5770-3195 Official Web↗ A catalyst for Tokyo's new coee culture in the 2010s. Although only about 12 square meters in size, it is well known as a hub of the community.
5	Bar werk B1F, 2-31-7 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku @bar_werk Cocktail bar patronized by Tokyo creators. Renovated from a sushi restaurant, the space has a cozy atmosphere and is scheduled for renovation in the spring of 2024.
6	Le cabaret 8-8, Moto-Yoyogi-cho, Shibuya-ku ☎︎03-3469-7466 @lecabaretinfo A casual bistro facing a shopping street. A pioneer in Tokyo's natural wine scene, it stocks nearly 5,000 bottles of wine.

Profile

Atsushi Sakao

Born in Chiba, 1983. Head of ONIBUS. After discovering theallure of coee in Australia and returning home from a year-long backpacking trip, he trained at a barista world champion's store. Founded ONIBUS COFFEE in 2012 in Okusawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, based on the concept of "Connecting people through coffee". He operates seven stores in Japan, including ABOUT LIFE COFFEE BREWERS in Dogenzaka and on the first floor of "all day place shibuya", and expanded to Bangkok and Taipei in April 2023.

all streets shibuya

How Shibuya made its mark as a Coffee Town

Coffee Culture from the streets of Shibuya

Aiming for a third place like those he experienced in Australia

Still a loyal patron of Shibuya coee joints

Words of exhortation from fellow Shibuya bartenders