This is the ONE reason I was in a hurry to reach the country I have been wanting to visit since 1985 – the year I went to Europe for the very first time and decided, the next year I would visit Japan.
Many things happened since – one of them being that around 2009 I learned of this man brewing a very special type of coffee. Today I found out that, not only is he a devote man of the coffee, but he has also won competitions as pipe smoker.
What has drawn me to him is that he is known for roasting coffee daily, even after his 100th birthday last May. The coffee he roasts is partly seeds from vintage harvests. That might be a Cuban coffee from 1956, or another from Mexico from 1974.
Barely 24 hours after landing in this city, I was in awe to be sitting next to him and see him work. I thank my visit in part to the friendly welcome of Michael Kleindl, a food critic/writer who has been living here for over 30 years and some years ago assured me, it is worth it drinking old coffee at Café de L’Ambre.
Mr. Ichiro Sekiguchi and my smallness / Café de L’Ambre, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan / Leica D-Lux 4 / photographed by Michael Kleindl
Two Pipes from a coffee and tobacco pipe champion, Mr. Ichiro Sekiguchi / His office at Café de L’Ambre, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan / Leica D-Lux 4
