Japanese Craft-coffee roasting

Frontier Coffee Shop:   03-3957-3339
Itabashi-ku, Ooyama-cho 18-1
173-0023 東京都板橋区大山町18番１号
(Tobutojo Line-Ooyama station)

Traditionally, retail shops in Japan tended to specialize on one product and develop the skills and expertise to ensure the quality of that product. Walk down any shopping street (商店街）if you can find one, and each shop on the street will specialize on one thing-butcher, fish monger, fruit and vegetable stand, senbei, tea, and even coffee.

Most people don't associate high quality coffee with Japan, but in fact some of the best beans in the world are imported into Japan.  Consistent with the Japanese attention to detail in many traditional crafts, such as sword making, sake brewing, and carpentry, is coffee roasting.

The best coffee I have ever had is from this shop, Frontier, in Oyama on the Tobu Tojo line. It's the place that I always go to get the coffee that I grind at home.  What makes this coffee so delicious is that the owner orders quality beans and then roasts them almost daily, just right, a medium roast for most beans, though there are  dark roasted ones as well.  It is absolutely the best coffee I have ever had and surprisingly enough, it's actually cheaper than the coffee that you find in most department stores.  Moreover, the shop is clean and well maintained.  Oddly enough, the top of the sign says "Coffee Warehouse" but "Gourmet Coffee " would be more appropriate.  This shop is well worth visiting if you are a coffee aficionado. 

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The coffee beans on display, organized by blend type or country of origin

Mr. Matsuoka, friendly owner of the, shop with his Cleveland Indians cap

The roasting machine