"Coffee is personality": How the Australian cafe culture taught Nobu diverse ways of life

Nobumasa Shimoyama is sharing his experience of the Australian cafe culture in Japan.

World latte art champion, Nobumasa Shimoyama says the Australian coffee culture taught him the diverse way of life. Credit: Standart/Nobumasa Shimoyama

If you walk down the streets of Australia, you will indeed find a café.

According to a recent report by market research firm IBIS World, there are 25,406 cafes across Australia as of 2023, a 4.2 per cent increase compared to the year before.

Nobumasa Shimoyama, who already had a solid 9 years of experience in one of Japan's biggest Coffee chains, chose Melbourne as his destination to further polish his skills in 2012.

"I heard that Australia was a friendly country and that Melbourne was a mecca of cafes, where baristas from all over the world were coming to train."

After seven years, with valuable skills, lessons learnt and a win at the latte world art championship, Mr Shimoyama, widely known as "Nobu", returned to Japan to open an Australian style cafe, called Pathfinder x Nobu.

Not only does he serve coffee the Aussie way, but he also runs a barista school to teach coffee skills and the English needed to work in the industry.

Credit: Nobumasa Shimoyama

Nobu, who also works as a coffee adviser for large coffee firms in Japan, says the Australian coffee culture of customising the drink to your liking has taught him the importance of the diverse ways of life.

In Japan, the orders he receives are straightforward.

But in Australia, people have various preferences for milk, the strength of coffee, how hot it is, and how it is presented, he says.

"Even children will tell me how hot the milk should be, the amount of chocolate powder and the number of marshmallows," he adds.

Nobu says this culture has made him realise the importance of respecting diversity and having strong opinions about what goes into your body.

2016 Latte Art World Champion Credit: Nobumasa Shimoyama

Today he shares these experiences in his barista school and the talks he holds at various locations.

"If Japan doesn't take this on, we could all be buried in the crowd."

"I want a society where even a single cup of coffee can reveal a person's individuality."

"Coffee is personality. That's my slogan".

For the full interview, listen below.

LISTEN TO

"Coffee is personality" : How the Australian cafe culture taught Nobu, diverse way of life

13:01

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