𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘯

RIP The Block (for now) 🪦 When I moved to Japan eight years ago I couldn’t speak a lick of Japanese. I had no friends or connections in the coffee community either. And it seemed like the faintest of dreams to be able to have my own cafe at all, let alone in Japan. But thanks to a combination of a lot of luck, a little bit of elbow grease, and a whole ton of love and support from the coffee community and people all around Japan that I was able to run @chen.andcoffee for five years. And then not only dream about, but begin to plan and prepare for my own store. I owe so much to so many people, and it was always my plan and desire to pay it back and pay it forward. I wanted to make a hub for community and friendship in Sapporo, where you could go to meet old friends and make new ones. I wanted to make a space where I could showcase beans from my roaster friends around Japan and the world, and give them a reason to come visit Sapporo. I wanted to support other local small business through events and popups, and create a space and a chance for anyone interested in starting their own popups or brand to give it a go. The hope was always that I could inspire and give confidence to others in the same way I that I was encouraged by so many to give Chen&Coffee a shot and to seriously consider opening up my own shop. And maybe I can still do all those things, but it won’t be the way that I was originally intending too. Thanks to government shortsightedness and small mindedness, the space that I intended to use to give back to the community and support other small businesses be rejected by the Japanese government for not being a “suitable business” for Japan. There’s many things to think about and process now that I’m back in California. But in the meantime, I just feel bad for all the hard work and preparation that not just myself, but countless others were doing on my behalf. But also incredibly thankful to have had so many people in my corner this whole time. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 @yusukeota @transform.inc @kazu_o0723 @skybluecoffee_realestate @joekkaido2 @joekkaido @yuki_takeuchi__ @mavam_japan @dainari0831 @maple_corgi.kaitai @____fountain.30

RIP The Block (for now) 🪦 8年前日本引っ越したときに、日本語全く話せなかったし、コーヒーの友達繋がりもいなかったし、自信もなっかたから日本で自分のお店できると思わなかった。でも、めっちゃラッキーと少しだけのハードワークとみんなからのたくさんサポートのおかげでChen&Coffeeは5年間やり続けてる。そして、そのおかげで自分の店は夢だけじゃなくて、ちゃんと準備を始めることになってた。 今までは全国の多くの人々支えてくれたから、ずっとgive backしたいなと思ってた！自分の店は友情とcommunityに中心したかった。札幌で一番友だちと繋がり作りやすいところになるつもりだった。日本中のコーヒーの友達の豆を使いたかったし、みんな札幌に出店しに来て欲しかった！そして、俺の店のイベントとポップアップとして他のsmall businessをサポートしたかったし、ポップアップやブランドを立ち上げる興味がある人のため挑戦できるスペースとチャンスをあげたかった。みんなからインスピレーションされたと同じぐらいインスピレーションしたかった。 まだ日本で全部できるかもしれんけど、考えていたような感じにはならない。政府や政治家は近視眼的で視野が狭いから、今の日本ではそういったビジネスは外国人としてやるのはどんどん難しくなりそう。特に俺の場合はそうだったから、日本はとりあえずダメになった。 カリフォルニアに戻ってきて、考えたり、決めたりすることがたくさんある。でもまず、俺の店のため考えて準備して働いてくれた人に感謝したいと思ってた。本当にありがとうございました。 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 @yusukeota @transform.inc @kazu_o0723 @skybluecoffee_realestate @yuki_takeuchi__ @mavam_japan @joekkaido2 @joekkaido @dainari0831 @maple_corgi.kaitai @____fountain.30

Chen&Coffee broke 5k followers a couple of weeks ago. That’s about a thousand new followers since I moved back from Japan only four months ago. It’s been one of the most hectic spans of my life, and I still can’t quite believe that I’m doing popups and making some waves in the SF coffee scene. But I’m thankful and excited for the what’s next! Everything shot in B&W and hand developed by the one and only @magzipan

アメリカ帰って来てから休みせずにコーヒーやってるみたい 🤣 めっちゃサポートされてるから全然文句言わないけど！3ヶ月だけでこのぐらいのチャンスあると思わなくてほまに感謝してる！めっちゃ楽しみにしていることはそろそろ始まるからよく見てね！ 💪🏼 Feels like I’ve been going flat out since I stepped off the plane last year! Still can’t believe it’s been only a little over 3 months since bringing Chen&Coffee back to California. But SF and the Bay have been nothing but warm and welcoming and I’m glad that if I couldn’t be back in Japan, at least I could be back here! A lot of exciting things are just around the corner too, so keep watching! 📷: @xninjason

One pour from my @goodthing.coffee popup early this week. Shot and edited on the day by the talented @xninjason ! It was super nice to be making coffee outside of SF for once! And hopefully I’ll have some more downtown Palo Alto and other peninsula popups in the future! There’s a few pretty exciting things in the books that I can’t wait to sure with you all! This year’s gonna be super fun!

2025 was a year of ups and downs. Never would’ve thought I’d start 2026 looking at Japan from the outside - but here we are. Hard to believe it’s only been a month and half since I had to uproot my life and move back to a place that I call “home” but have never actually lived in for the last 10+ years. But I say that also in a good way, because the last eight weeks have really flown by! Between starting work at @moonwakecoffeeroasters and ramping up my own @chen.andcoffee popups, there’s been plenty to do and a lot to be excited for! And I can’t wait to see what this new year brings! 📷: @xninjason

It’s hard to believe it’s only been a few weeks since I moved back from Japan. Tbh it feels more like a few months at this point! But it’s been incredibly easy to get tapped in to the community here and everyone has been super inviting, so we’re moving full steam ahead! This month is already stacked with a bunch of sick popups and events - and this is only just the beginning! The SF era of Chen&Coffee starts now! 📷: @xninjason

home sweet home

finally over jet lag, and maybe a little bit closer to figuring it out what I wanna do with my life now. it’s only been two weeks back home, but it feels more like two months. 📷: @daichi_photo_

・ Less than a week left in Japan. Guess I’ll be seeing you soon San Francisco.

・ 【 MATT’S SAYONARA PARTY 】 at @log.sapporo 11/3 (月) 12:00-21:00 ・ カリフォルニア帰る前にlast partyします！これから日本でどういう生活できるかわからないけど、今年は絶対最後です 😢 出る前にみんなと遊びたいから、色々な友だちを呼んでsayonara partyやります！夜までパーティして、次の昼飛行機乗るから、本当に今年の最後です！ラストに遊びにきてね！ One last party before I leave Japan! I’m not sure how I’ll be able to be in Japan moving forward, but I definitely won’t be back in Japan until next spring at the earliest. So this will be the last party of the year! Come hang out with everyone and celebrate! My flight is the next afternoon so I’m not planning on sleeping much (if at all), so someone buy me drink(s) and let’s party ・ 1階 @log.sapporo // ドリンク @aaairi_725 // フード 2階 @chen.andcoffee // コーヒー @peridotst.bakery // クッキー 3階 @victorgramme // カクテル @arst_apartment_store // 古道具 @aim_vintage // 古着 ・ DJ & Music @shane_carreira @mars0211 @aymn_meow @hayashi.shoten.sapporo and more!

・ Chen&Coffeeの5周年 Block Party来てくれてありがとうございました！めっちゃ楽しい二日間だった！みんなと遊んだり飲んだりワイワイできて本当に嬉しかった！ 日本で5年コーヒーやってると思わないね！本当にみんなのおかげで！次の周年イベントどこでやるかな！ Thanks to everyone that came out this weekend to celebrate five years of Chen&Coffee! None of this would be possible without the love and support of you all, and I’m super thankful to have such an awesome community here in Sapporo! Much love to @streetlightbrewing for hosting. And to @woojoo_wkym @peridotst.bakery @cense_herbandspice @amerique_sapporo2 @dly_sapporo @dropby_store @bdd___official @auguri.y @curryclub1112 for showing up as well! 📷 @dec_vs_japan