Morihico Coffee

The guide to Morihico Coffee in Sapporo follows Sousuke Ichikawa, who spent three years repairing a collapsing 1952 farmhouse before he ever served a cup of coffee, having trained not in coffee but in the tea ceremony. You'll hear how he and his family gutted the rotting timbers themselves when he turned the space into a cafe in 1996, and how it took him years afterward to buy his first small roaster and teach himself the craft. The guide lingers on the details still visible today, from the grapevines climbing the outside walls to the sewing-machine table inside. Sit by the double-pane windows upstairs for the quietest view of the Maruyama street below.