ABOVE the crowds at the famous Shibuya scramble crossing in Tokyo glows the unmissable bright green sign of Starbucks, a magnet that pulls in a steady stream of hip, young Japanese.

    The American coffee company is so popular in Japan that it recently announced plans to buy out its Japanese partner for US$900 million and take full control of operations in its second-largest market.

    However, not everyone is a fan of the customized drinks and free Wi-Fi on offer at more than 1,000 Japanese branches of the global chain.

    “The way they make [coffee] is totally wrong, it’s not tasty,” rails Ichiro Sekiguchi, the 100-year-old owner of long-established independent Tokyo coffee shop Cafe de L’Ambre.

    The dimly lit wooden interior of his cafe is busy with customers sipping their 700 yen (US$6) brews, which Sekiguchi claims are the best in Japan.

    The coffee is strong and rich, with a deep flavor that his customers think is worth the price — at least twice that of Starbucks.

    Like many independent coffee shops, L’Ambre thrives on repeat customers and counts Japanese wrestler-turned-politician Antonio Inoki among its regulars, while nearby Cafe Paulista boasts that it was once frequented by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

    One of L’Ambre’s loyal patrons has drunk a cup of coffee made from beans meticulously hand-roasted by Sekiguchi and his staff every day for 50 years.

    Sekiguchi opened L’Ambre in 1948, when occupying American soldiers made coffee popular. Japan is now the world’s fourth-largest coffee consumer.

    Some of that comes in the form of canned coffee, served hot or cold by vending machines. One brand has been endorsed by Hollywood star Tommy Lee Jones for over eight years.

    A growing proportion is being sold in convenience stores, where big chains such as 7-Eleven are slugging it out for customers, offering 100-yen cups of freshly ground coffee.

    “There are many people who drink coffee in Japan, but they drink bad coffee,” said Sekiguchi, who estimates that there are only “around five” truly good coffee shops in Japan. Naturally, that includes his.

    While smoking is banned in Starbucks, the acceptance of clouds of cigarette fumes may be a factor keeping old-school coffee shops like L’Ambre afloat.

    “Sekiguchi, a pipe smoker, said cafes that banned smoking had got it wrong, as “after drinking delicious coffee, you want to smoke tobacco.”

    (SD-Agencies)