Kids Web Japan

Many manufacturers have taken on the challenge of developing canned beverages, and a wide variety of canned coffee and tea drinks are now available. These drinks, sold chilled in summer and heated in winter, have become a part of everyday life in Japan. They are readily available not only from vending machines but also at convenience stores.

But are canned coffee and tea drinks as popular in the rest of the world as they are in Japan? Canned coffee is becoming popular in other Asian countries, but it accounts for only a tiny share of the drinks market in Europe and the United States.

The situation with green tea is quite different, however. Unlike coffee, green tea is not something that Europeans and Americans are accustomed to drinking on an everyday basis. But Japanese food, including sushi and sashimi, has become very popular in Europe and the United States. Green tea goes well with Japanese food, so people in Europe and the United States have started drinking green tea when they eat Japanese food. Encouraged by this trend, Ito En has begun selling canned green tea in the United States. "The fact that green tea is good for your health has caused Americans to take a fresh look at it," says an Ito En spokesperson.

The Japanese words judo and sushi have entered the English language and are now quite common. It may not be long before the word o-cha (tea) becomes part of everyday English as well. And the modern-day Japanese custom of warming the body and soul on a cold winter day with a hot drink from a vending machine may become a pleasure that is enjoyed by people throughout the world.