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10月1日「国際コーヒーデー」に「コーヒーロード展」開幕
Connecting people, places, and knowledge through coffee.
WHO WE ARE
WHO WE ARE
Global Coffee Society (GCS) is a Japan-based platform connecting people, places, and knowledge through research, education, cultural projects, and international exchange.
We approach coffee not simply as a beverage or commodity, but as a window into history, culture, local communities, industries, and human relationships.
WHY COFFEE?
WHY COFFEE?
There are many people in the world who want to make it better. Their energy takes countless forms, across countless fields.
We are one of them — with an approach that might be a little unexpected.
When coffee comes up in conversation, something shifts.
People lean in. They talk about their favorite origin, their preferred roast, the cup they'll never forget. Everyone experiences coffee differently — and that's precisely why the conversation never ends.
Coffee is a drink that carries the world within it. In the presence of that one cup — the climate, the soil, the hands, the journey it holds — people light up. They speak in their own words. And that is where real encounters begin.
Across languages, cultures, and backgrounds, something starts to resonate. A shared sense of wonder over a single cup.
Global Coffee Society (GCS) was born from the belief that this chain of connection can change the world.
We want to create more opportunities for people across the world to connect through coffee — a shared language — and to build mutual understanding, respect, and friendship.
VISION & MISSION
VISION & MISSION
Vision
Vision
A World United by Coffee
Mission
Mission
Through coffee as a shared language, we connect people across the world, igniting a chain of curiosity, understanding, and respect.
WHAT WE DO
WHAT WE DO
Knowledge & Communication
Knowledge & Communication
We turn research, fieldwork, and encounters into stories and knowledge that can be shared — through articles, podcasts, exhibitions, media, and public events.
Research & Education
Research & Education
We explore coffee across disciplines, cultures, and regions, and create opportunities to learn together through research, lectures, workshops, training, and educational programs.
Coffee Diplomacy
Coffee Diplomacy
We use coffee as a common language to connect people across countries, cultures, and sectors, creating opportunities for dialogue, exchange, and collaboration.
Co-Creation with Producing Communities
Co-Creation with Producing Communities
We work with coffee-producing communities to explore and share local knowledge, cultures, and perspectives, and to create new knowledge, relationships, opportunities, and initiatives together.
FEATURED PROJECT
FEATURED PROJECT
COFFEE ROAD: The Story of Coffee Told Through Stamps
COFFEE ROAD: The Story of Coffee Told Through Stamps
October 1–December 27, 2026
Postal Museum Japan, Tokyo
October 1–December 27, 2026
Postal Museum Japan, Tokyo
A cup of coffee brings together plants, places, people, technologies, cultures, and long histories of movement.
Through coffee-themed stamps from around the world, COFFEE ROAD traces the many journeys of coffee and the people, places, cultures, and histories connected along the way.
>> LEARN MORE
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
Asako HAGA
Asako HAGA
Co-Founder / Executive Director
Asako Haga has built her career across the private, nonprofit, and public sectors, with a consistent focus on international cooperation, cross-sector collaboration, and connecting people across cultures and organizations.
She spent nearly a decade working in Hong Kong in sales, marketing, and management. In Japan, she has worked extensively in the nonprofit sector, managing cross-sector collaboration and partnership development.
She holds a Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication and has extensive experience in facilitation and international exchange.
At GCS, she brings these experiences together to lead organizational development, partnerships, and cross-cultural collaboration.
Dr. Ohsoon YUN
Dr. Ohsoon YUN
Co-Founder / Director / Coffee Geographer
Dr. YUN is a human geographer, Q Grader, and entrepreneur who has spent over 20 years at the intersection of coffee, culture, and diplomacy.
Her doctoral thesis on coffee tourism in Ethiopia (University of Exeter, 2014) pioneered a new way of thinking: that coffee-producing communities hold cultural authority — not just agricultural output — and that this authority, when recognized, can rebalance the relationship between producer and consumer nations.
She is currently a Visiting Researcher at the African Studies Center, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, where she leads research on the Asian Coffee Road.
Dr. Ohsoon YUN’s Selected Recognition
Dr. Ohsoon YUN’s Selected Recognition
[EN] "On Tiny Cups: Tracing the Invisible Routes of Coffee Culture" The Newsletter, No.101, International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (2025)
[EN] "Why Ethiopians Trust This Korean Coffee-Lover for Global Coffee Business" The Globalists, Arirang TV (2024)
[EN] "From Ewha to Ethiopia: the coffee geographer connecting cultures one cup at a time" Ewha Voice, Ewha Womans University (2026)
[EN] PhD Thesis: "Coffee Tourism in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Challenges, and Initiatives" University of Exeter (2014) — 1,000+ annual downloads worldwide
[KO] Featured in TV Documentary "세계테마기행 - 나는 전설이다,에티오피아 (I Am a Legend — Ethiopia)" (4 episodes, 2024), EBS (Korea Educational Broadcasting System)
[KO] "커피 종주국 인정 ‘커피 박사’ 윤오순의 '커피 외교술' 에티오피아 정부가 먼저 찾는 한국인 ("Coffee Doctor" Ohsoon YUN’s Coffee Diplomacy: The South Korean Expert the Ethiopian Government Calls on First )" Shin Dong-A, Dong-A Ilbo Group (2021)
ORGANIZATION DETAILS
ORGANIZATION DETAILS
Legal Name:
Legal Name:
General Incorporated Association Global Coffee Society (一般社団法人グローバルコーヒーソサエティ)
English Name:
English Name:
Global Coffee Society
Established:
Established:
July 31, 2026
Address:
Address:
6F Ichigo Higashi-Ikebukuro Building, 1-34-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0013, Japan
* In-person visits are by appointment only. Please contact us via the form to arrange a meeting.
Leadership:
Leadership:
Executive Director: Asako HAGA
Director: Dr. Ohsoon YUN
Fiscal Year:
Fiscal Year:
January 1 – December 31
Website:
Website:
globalcoffeesociety.org
CONNECT WITH GCS
CONNECT WITH GCS
Interested in what coffee can connect?
Interested in what coffee can connect?
We welcome conversations and collaboration with researchers, educators, coffee professionals, communities, organizations, and anyone curious about the worlds connected through coffee.
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