So this pack of coffee beans wins the award for the absolutely cutest packaging!
As a bit of backstory to how I bought these beans, recently I’ve been watching Peace Wanko’s videos on YouTube. They’re a dog rescue organisation based in Hiroshima, and working towards reducing the number of shelter dogs needing to be euthanised in Japan. I love dogs, so I can’t help but be tugged at the heartstrings when I watch these sort of things.
On a related note, Japan also has a tax refund system called the furusato nozei where you can donate some of your income taxes to less-populated prefectures (who don’t get as much tax income) and in return get gifts from that region. Usually I go for rice, fruit or frozen meat. But I saw that Peace Wanko was accepting Furusato Nozei donations (on behalf of Hiroshima prefecture), and in return they would gift you coffee beans. This seemed like a win-win to me so I got two packs.
Since I was buying these beans as a donation I wasn’t really expecting anything in terms of the quality, but it’s actually really quite decent. The flavour is really smooth and just makes for an easy cup of coffee - not too much bitterness or acidity.
The parent company of Peace Wanko is Peace Winds, a Japanese NGO that has been around since 1996. And it seems like Peace Winds in turn started up Peace Coffee in Timor-Leste in 2002 to help out local farmers, which is where the beans come from. So I suppose that makes this a win-win-win.
(As a final side note, “wanko” in Japanese is a cute way of saying “dog”. As someone used to the word it didn’t really stand out to me but I saw some English speakers saying that it’s quite an unfortunate name and I can sort of see it).
Hi, I'm Emma!
I'm a long-time lover of coffee - back in Sydney my go-to drink was always a soy cappucino. After I moved to Tokyo 4 years ago, I discovered the wonders of pour-over coffee and now I'm always on the lookout for new coffee beans to try. So far I've checked out 23 coffee shops and roasters here in Japan.
If you found this post useful, you can also show your support by buying me a coffee ☕
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