INTERVIEWS

Even foreigners can do something in Japan. There is nothing they can’t do—That is what I want to prove.

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Daniel Penso   Rino Senlewa Cafe owner/Barista/Cafe consultant Finally, we were able to conduct an in-depth interview with this person. In October 2020, My Eyes Tokyo editor-in-chief Tokuhashi participated in a PR project. He visited an old private house cafe in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture. An Indonesian man, Rino Senlewa, ran a small Indonesian coffee shop called “Mahameru Coffee” there. He never stopped moving, not even for a second, talking to customers while taking their orders and brewing coffee, and politely answered Tokuhashi’s questions even though he was so busy. Around the time

INTERVIEWS

Ocharaka

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Japanese tea shop/cafe (Kichijoji, Tokyo) There is a very unique Japanese tea shop in Kichijoji, one of the most popular places among young people in Tokyo. It sells “flavored tea” such as orange flavor, chocolate-mint flavor, natsumikan (lit.”summer tangerine”) flavor and baked apple flavor. The storekeeper, Stephane Danton, is a French man. Green tea is a typical part of traditional Japanese culture and people feel there are high walls between foreigners and Japanese traditional culture. But he got over the walls. He created a healing place which is full of