Marunouchi Naka-dori, connecting Otemachi and Yurakucho, is a lively street lined with restaurants and apparel shops. During lunchtime, it becomes a pedestrian-friendly space bustling with business professionals and shoppers.
Four days a week, though on an irregular schedule, the mobile café COFFEE PERSON sets up shop here. Inside the coffee truck, postcards featuring modern and contemporary artworks by Toulouse-Lautrec, Andy Warhol, Yuzo Saeki, Seiki Kuroda, and Alfred Sisley, among others, are displayed. Customers stopping by for coffee often notice the postcards and say, “I saw this painting at an exhibition the other day.” Without missing a beat, Mr. Fujita responds, “I went to that exhibition too,” sparking a lively exchange of exhibition insights and impressions. For Mr. Fujita, postcards serve as conversation starters. “This is my way of enjoying art,” Mr. Fujita says.
COFFEE PERSON: A mobile café that offers the joy of art through conversation
Art Influencer
No.003
The series “Art Influencers” focuses on individuals who share the allure of art. This installment features Takayuki Fujita, an influencer who runs a mobile café COFFEE PERSON set up near Yurakucho Station, in a corner of Marunouchi Naka-dori Street. On the counter of his coffee truck, brochures and cards from art museums are neatly arranged, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a display rack in a museum or art gallery. While serving drinks, Mr. Fujita spontaneously introduces people to the charm of art. We trace Mr. Fujita’s journey into the world of art.
A life-changing art experience in France
Mr. Fujita has worked in the food industry since his teenage years, but he had his first meaningful encounter with art at the age of 26. Hoping to gain experience in organic farming abroad, he took part in a work exchange program through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a nonprofit movement. He set off alone for Grasse, a provincial French city renowned as the world’s perfume capital. During his three-month stay in France, he spent a few days in Paris. Since he had come all that way, he decided to make the most of his visit and purchased a “Carte Musées,” a pass that grants access to multiple museums across the city. While he was well-versed in wine and cuisine, art had never particularly interested him. Still, the idea of visiting dozens of museums for just a few thousand yen seemed like a great deal—so he decided to give it a try. That decision became a turning point in his life.
Fujita-style approach to learning about art
Back in the early 2000s, before smartphones were commonplace, Mr. Fujita navigated exhibitions with an electronic dictionary in hand. As he viewed artworks, he would translate the titles and descriptions on the spot, diligently taking notes.
“Even when I translated the titles into Japanese, they didn’t always make sense right away. So, I would stare at the paintings and ask myself, ‘What was the artist trying to express?’ If a particular artist intrigued me, I’d jot down their birth and death years, figure out how old they were when they created a certain work, and imagine the story of their life. That was fascinating to me,” he recalls.
He became completely absorbed in visiting art museums, and one that left a lasting impression was the Rodin Museum. “Museums dedicated to a single artist are great because they allow you to follow the artist’s life journey through their works,” he says. Experiencing firsthand how the French people appreciate art and savor their time enriched his perspective in ways that continue to shape him today.
After returning to Japan, Mr. Fujita continued working in the food industry while aspiring to pursue agriculture. However, due in part to the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake, he had to abandon that path. In 2016, he embarked on his current venture. “My wife is a pastry chef, and I also thought about making use of the parking space at home. That’s when I came up with the idea of running a mobile coffee stand,” he recalls. He started small, using a compact van—Japanese kei car. Once he got started, he discovered that “the conversations with customers were just so enjoyable.”
As he set up shop on Marunouchi Naka-dori, he also had the opportunity to meet people working at nearby art museums. Talking about his museum visits in France led to him receiving exhibition information and placing art museum flyers at his shopfront.
“I once shared my thoughts on an exhibition with a museum staff member, and they responded, ‘That’s an interesting perspective. It’s absolutely fine to experience art that way.’ That made me really happy. It made me realize that even without formal art education, my own interpretations were valid,” he reflects.
From then on, he started collecting postcards from art museums he visited and displaying them inside his van.
Conversations through art
Marunouchi is home to several museums, including the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Seikado Bunko Art Museum, and Idemitsu Museum of Arts. A short walk away, one can also visit Tokyo Station Gallery and the Artizon Museum, making it a hub for art lovers. When a student customer expresses an interest in art, Mr. Fujita might recommend, “The Artizon Museum has many works that you can photograph.” With visitors from out of town, he enjoys exchanging insights, saying things like, “I heard the exhibition at Tokyo Station Gallery is part of a traveling show.” He tailors each conversation to the interests of his customers. “I learn so much from talking with people, and that’s what makes it fun,” Mr. Fujita says.
Mr. Fujita greets customers not only in Japanese but in various languages. In fact, he can exchange basic greetings in about 40 languages.
“I mostly taught myself English, and over time, I became more comfortable speaking it through practice. As for other languages, I ask customers, ‘How do people greet each other in your country?’ or ‘What’s something famous from where you’re from?’ Then I take notes and memorize them. I review my notes and repeat the phrases until I can say them smoothly. I love the process of building things up, step by step. There are certain views you can only see by accumulating knowledge and experiences, and just thinking about that excites me.”
Connecting people and art over a delicious cup of coffee, Mr. Fujita creates a space where conversations flow naturally. If you spot his coffee truck in Yurakucho, be sure to stop by—not just for a drink, but for the chance to share a conversation.
Japanese original text: Emi Sato
Photos: Yuta Hinohara
Translation: Kae Shigeno
Takayuki Fujita
Owner of COFFEE PERSON mobile café.
Since the 1990s, he has been working in the food and beverage industry, starting in his teens. After gaining experience at farms, restaurants, and hotels in Japan and abroad, he launched his mobile coffee business in 2016. He operates in Marunouchi Naka-dori about four days a week, mainly from Friday to Monday.
For updates on locations and hours, check Instagram.
Website ⇨ https://www.coffeeperson-tokyo.com/
Instagram⇨ https://www.instagram.com/coffeeperson_tokyo/
