{"id":3922,"date":"2021-06-18T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp?post_type=roasters&p=3922"},"modified":"2025-05-13T17:01:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T08:01:54","slug":"good-enough-coffee-toyama","status":"publish","type":"roasters","link":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/narratives\/roasters\/good-enough-coffee-toyama\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Enough Coffee Toyama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Good Enough Coffee Toyama, or just Good Enough Coffee, is a specialty coffee shop that opened in April 2019 in the owner\u2019s hometown of Toyama prefecture, Japan. The concept of the shop is \u201ceverything is here.\u201d We speak with Mr. Amane Oshio, who has been involved in unique initiatives like offering a tasting service of all the coffees sold at his shop and selling less than perfect coffees as \u201coutlet coffees.\u201d\u3000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Feeling unease with a sense of discomfort at a coffee farm in Brazil<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When Oshio visited a specialty coffee farm in Brazil in 2014 with a famous exporter as his guide, he felt a sense of discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oshio recalls, \u201cAll the people who greeted us and welcomed us were white, and all the people serving us in the big house were black. I wondered if the class system hadn\u2019t changed over the generations since colonial time, when Portuguese people brought black people from Africa to build coffee plantations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe farm had housing for the black employees, a daycare and a nursery, so the environment was relatively good. But I also got the impression that the employer was \u201cproviding\u201d them the benefits meaning I was suspecting other than the superficial \u201cemployer providing the staff with employment benefits.\u201d The owner of the farm told me, \u2018It\u2019s wonderful this kind of relationship between white and black people has been going on for generations,\u2019 but I was not convinced at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Good Enough Coffee, which advocates fair trade, was born out of the discomfort Oshio felt at the time. Yet, it doesn\u2019t mean that Good Enough Coffee has brought fair trade to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was involved with a non-profit organization that advocated fair trade, I noticed that their quality control was not done properly while having very high aspirations. Relationships supported by the goodwill of the buyers were not sustainable. In order to achieve economic independence for the local people, I thought it\u2019s important to improve the quality of the products and provide delicious food for the people who are not even interested in fair trade would also want to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe that\u2019s why I\u2019ve seen firsthand that many customers agree with my way of thinking, and want to spend money with the expectation that I will continue to do things right. Even when my roasting doesn\u2019t turn out to be good, I\u2019m grateful people will continue to buy my products so that they can support me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Pursuing the goal; running a company as the owner.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Oshio was born and raised by parents who ran a coffee shop in Toyama, but it wasn\u2019t that he had lots of opportunities to be well-informed about coffee by his parents. Coffee was certainly a part of his life, but he says that he\u2019d never thought he would enter the world of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The turning point came when he was in junior high school when he was absent from school for a while due to an injury. His parents told him, \u2018You are living a lazy life. It\u2019s good if you read about what\u2019s going on in the world,\u2019 and was handed a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember the title or the outline of the book, but I learned from it that poverty and conflicts are rife in the world. In order to solve the problems in the world, I would like to develop my strength and be able to influence the world in some way rather than be a cog in the wheel of society. As I thought about this, my goal of starting a business began to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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After graduating from the local high school, Oshio went to university in Tokyo where he could study English, with an eye on moving overseas.

\u201cI didn\u2019t have a concrete vision about my future, and hadn\u2019t taken any action then that would lead me to any desired outcome. But if I worked in my hometown after graduating from high school, my options would be limited. If I study and go to a university in the city, I thought I could keep my hopes alive. I was driven by such impatience and fears.\u201d

Oshio didn\u2019t stop working towards his vision of running his own company. Keeping his eye firmly on his goal was the only way to hold himself together in the face of an uncertain reality.

After graduating from university, he worked for a food and beverage service company that acquired loss-making franchise stores and revived them. He wanted to work for the company because he had heard that if he could turn around ten stores, he could be made the director of a subsidiary company.

However, things didn\u2019t go according to what he originally planned out. The company forced part-time staff to do various jobs without paying them overtime, and when they became full-time employees, their salaries were actually reduced. In addition to feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the exploitative working environment that took advantage of the employees, he wasn\u2019t sure when he would be able to become a director. When he reached a dead end in his life and started to look for another way, he suddenly realized that his parents\u2019 work had had everything he had ever wanted.

\u201cThrough coffee, I can be involved with the world, to create products and sell them through stores on a small scale. Because I thought I could become a business owner more quickly through this route, I decided to return to my hometown. My parents\u2019 coffee shop seemed to be complete in the small space they own, but as I went out into the world and broadened my horizons, I was able to see the things I wasn\u2019t able to before. So, it was only after that that I decided to use coffee as a means to change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Oshio then started working at his parents\u2019 coffee shop in 2014, which he never thought was an option until a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was no room for even a part-time worker to work in the store, so when I asked my parents if I could help the shop, they refused me by saying, \u2018There\u2019s no room for you and we can\u2019t pay you.\u2019 I then said, \u201cI don\u2019t need a salary, so let me do what I want\u201d and that\u2019s how I got to working at my parents\u2019 shop.\u201d (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oshio immediately contributed by utilizing his computer skills, like creating information on coffee to be placed in the store, improving the management. After about five years of preparation by visiting coffee origins and visiting coffee shops in Tokyo and New York, he finally opened Good Enough Coffee in April 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The word \u201cEnough\u201d is used in the name of the store with his concept that \u201cYou have everything here in Toyama prefecture. You don\u2019t have to go to Tokyo or New York.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oshio states, \u201cThe longing I have for big cities is connected to my sense of value that what is popular in the city is good. But Toyama prefecture has great nature with mountains and is near the sea. There is an abundance of fresh and delicious vegetables and seafood, which are cheaper and better quality than in the cities. Information does come in later than they do in the cities, so I try to be \u201can importer\u201d to bring in the latest information from the cities to Toyama prefecture.\u201d

Oshio, who taught himself roasting and brewing techniques almost entirely, also uses the word \u201cEnough\u201d to mean that he can do it well in Toyama prefecture.

\u201cAs I visited cafes and coffee shops in Tokyo and New York, I became more and more convinced that the style of the shop I want to run doesn\u2019t have to be in one particular place, or it doesn\u2019t matter. In fact, I thought that having a perspective on fair trade would differentiate us from other coffee shops.\u201d

\u201cSome customers ask me, \u2018Where did you get your training?\u2019 The good thing about today\u2019s world is you can study anywhere if you have the drive. My parents say, \u2018In the old days, it was hard to choose coffee beans and you had to have connections to buy them. It\u2019s unbelievable you can buy coffee beans even in small quantities from anywhere now. You are lucky,\u2019 they say.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Be pessimistic in the short term and be optimistic in the long term.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Oshio has a dream that has remained unchanged for nearly twenty years ever since he read the book from his parents.

\u201cEventually, I want to live in Africa and support the economic independence of the local people. It\u2019s still a long way to go, but I would like to use the money I have saved to build a school in Africa and provide education for the children.\u201d

For Oshio, coffee isn\u2019t just a simple luxury item or a commercial product, but a tool to change the world. Roasting coffee wasn\u2019t originally something he really wanted to do, but once he started doing it, he couldn\u2019t help but stick to it, which is evident from the dozen or so different types of coffee beans displayed in the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reason I make it possible for customers to smell and taste all the coffees is that limiting the types of coffee available for tasting would narrow down the choices for customers. My motto is \u201cThoroughness in all things.\u201d I want to do the obvious things that anyone can do but with a level that no one else can. Rather than doing something special, I believe that if I can do it well, I can naturally differentiate myself from other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It is also typical of Oshio that he sells less than perfect coffees as \u201coutlet coffees\u201d in his store. In the same way that farmers sell insect-eaten or out-of-specification vegetables at a discount, they sell coffee beans that didn\u2019t quite turn out as well after roasting, but they judge to be of a certain quality, at a discount of thirty to fifty percent off the regular price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is my excuse or atonement and something like that. We usually sell the same coffee beans at the usual retail price, but there must be various circumstances in the process to end up selling them as seconds. In order to make it transparent, I think it\u2019s acceptable to sell the coffee beans at a price based on their quality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Although he has many things he would like to appeal to the public, Oshio doesn\u2019t talk about what\u2019s on his mind unless being asked by a customer. He does, however, provide opportunities for customers to become interested in coffee such as showing videos of coffee origins in the store.

Oshio states, \u201cThe coffee industry with its roots in colonialism is still stuck in the relationships between the exploiters and the exploited, which is also apparent in the class systems between the different races. I can\u2019t turn a blind eye to the problem as long as I am working in this industry.\u201d

\u201cI always want to keep an eye on things that that aren\u2019t right and want to be a person who notices those things. That\u2019s why I\u2019m happy when people tell me, \u2018I didn\u2019t think it in that way before.\u2019

Oshio has a creed: Be pessimistic in the short term and be optimistic in the long term.

\u201cIf you\u2019re only being pessimistic, you wouldn\u2019t be able to involve the people around you and if you\u2019re only optimistic, you wouldn\u2019t be inclined to make improvements. Although I sometimes feel frustrated that I haven\u2019t achieved anything yet, but I believe that if I make the right efforts, things will turn around. I want to keep doing what I can.\u201d

It\u2019s been about twenty years since he started walking toward his vision of becoming the owner of a company. Someone is waiting for him somewhere in the world at this moment. Such a conviction, akin to \u201cprayer,\u201d probably supports him as he lives with \u201cburden\u201d that he doesn\u2019t necessarily have to carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally written in Japanese by Tatsuya Nakamichi.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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