Coffee: Saving some ¥en (and the Earth, too) in Okinawa

It has been awhile since I have made any updates (I keep meaning to) and I have visited dozens of new cafes and tried new local foods. But I will save those for a little later. Recently it was brought to my attention that some people were unaware of some little yen-saving (and eco-conscious) tricks for coffee lovers here in Okinawa. Hopefully you have read about “eco-bag” or “my bag” that I wrote about earlier in the Food Shopping in Japan. Now to talk takeout coffee.

Some people already know that Starbucks will give you a small discount (20yen? 30yen?) for using your own  tumbler. But did you know places like Lawson and Tully’s do, too?

At Lawson, bring your own tumbler and they give you a 10yen discount… they should automatically ring it up, it has it’s own barcode. So while 10yen might not be that much, it does add up. Plus you are reducing single-use plastics and cups. Unfortunately, their competitor FamilyMart does not offer a discount however you can still use your own tumbler! 7-11 is arriving soon to Okinawa, and hopefully they will start offering a discount (as of right now I do not think they offer any discount on the mainland).

Tully’s offers a 30yen discount when you bring in your own tumbler for takeout coffee. There are a few Tully’s locations in Okinawa, mostly in the Naha area.

Segafredo is a coffee chain, however there is only 1 in Okinawa; it is located in Yomitan  area. They offer a 20yen discount for bringing your own tumbler.

And lastly Cafe de Crie (another chain, only 1 in Okinawa so far located in Naha) offers a 20yen discount for using your own tumbler.

So, there you have it! Save money and the environment, too. Let’s try to keep Okinawa’s beaches clean and beautiful, free of single-use plastics and other debris.

If you visit the mainland of Japan, there are many more places that offer discounts for “my tumbler” use, so be sure to check for them.

By the way, the stainless steel tumbler in my photo is from MUJI 無印良品 and comes in 2 sizes, 300mL and 450mL (I have 450 mL) for a fairly reasonable price (range of 1500yen).


マイタンブラー  mai tanburaa  “my tumbler”  (alternatively 自分のタンブラー jibun no tanburaa, also meaning “my tumbler” but the English-borrowed version is just as acceptable, if not moreso!)

マイボトル mai botoru   “my bottle”

マイマッグ mai maggu  “my mug”  (see a pattern?)

Normally I keep it as simple as possible by saying “マイタンブラーOK?” Sure, this is not sophisticated speech, but why make things more difficult for yourself.

You can also use something like:

このタンブラー使えますか? kono tanburaa tsukaemasu ka?  Could you use this tumbler?

このタンブラーにお願いします  kono tanburaa ni onegaishimasu.  Please put it in this tumbler.

35 Coffee: Coffee that supports Coral Conservation

35 can be pronounced “san” (3) + “go” (5). サンゴ sango is also the word for “coral.” So 35 coffee is actually pronounced sango coffee (not thirty-five coffee); it is a brand of coffee in Okinawa that supports coral research and conservation, making it a very eco-friendly coffee! It is a decent brewed cup of coffee, at any rate.

You can get brewed cups from the 35 coffee stands (one is in front of DonQ on Kokusai-dori and some others are located in the monorail stations, and another in the Naha LCC airport terminal, and probably more, these are ones I can remember) or purchase beans from many stores (including DonQ, Aeon, and even the airport souvenir stands).

The coffee itself is made using coral fossils during the roasting. Obviously coffee beans  are imported since Okinawa is not a coffee producer.

The roasting method using the coral fossils is similar to a stone roasting method. The green coffee beans are roasted with coral fossils at 200 ℃ or higher for a long time to create a mild coffee.

It is normally banned to harvest corals according to the Okinawa Prefecture Fisheries Regulations, applicable to even the fossils of corals, which means only companies that have permission from the prefecture can collect them. The 35 Coffee company acquired a permit from Okinawa Prefecture to use weathered corals for the roasting process and to purchase them from authorized companies.

A portion of the profits received from the sales of the coffee go to the “Coral Reproduction Project.” So I think it is good to support the corals in the Okinawa ocean and try some 35 (sango) coffee when you get the chance. Corals globally are effected by increasing ocean temperatures and human industrialization, and numbers have been dwindling for several years now.  Thriving coral reefs play an important role in the balance of ocean eco-systems, and can even provide some protecting and mitigating effects on storm waves and tsunami to help protect human populations that live along coastlines.

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address of Kokusai-dori coffee stand: https://goo.gl/maps/mDUCvT4RK8q