UCC, a company that I got to know since I was a kid. I actually drank pretty much coffee from this company. It was not until a couple years ago when I tried to do some research on the net that I discovered that this company is from Japan. Before I went to Japan in 2003, I spent too much time organizing my trip. In the Kansai Window, a web site which provides lots of useful information for travelers to Kansai area in Japan, I found a short introduction of this museum. I used to think that a museum with coffee as its theme should appear in a country with popular coffee culture, such as Italy. However, so far I only got to know two museums of this sort, one is in London UK and the other in Kobe Japan. As to Italy? Never heard of it!
我們一出車站就看到了博物館所在的圓頂式建築。這棟建築物原本是UCC上島咖啡株式會社為了1981年神戶市政府所舉辦的Portopia Expo所建造，是該公司在博覽會的展示區。博覽會結束後，UCC公司決定將它改為博物館，向民眾「傳達出咖啡的趣味與美妙」，並於昭和62年（1987年）正式開館。
I went to visit the UCC museum with my counsin. The "duom" where the museum is situated is quite an obvious building outside the station. The UCC company built this site for the Portopia Expo in 1981, and it was actually the exhibition area of the company during the Expo. After the Expo was finished, the company converted the site into a museum to "deliver the interests and loveliness of coffee" to the general public. It was officially open to the public in 1987.
博物館總共有六個常態展示區，分別介紹咖啡的來源、栽植、分佈、製作烘培、文化、以及相關基本資訊。一進到館中，我們就順著方向上了手扶梯，來到博物館的最頂層，開始以環狀方向順路參觀，慢慢地穿過各個展示區。館中運用了各種手法，包括圖片、文字說明、影片、語音等，配合各種相關文物器具與植物等，在視覺上非常地多樣化。讓我印象最深刻的，大概就是館內一個透明櫥窗內所展示的植物；這是我第一次看到咖啡樹（沒錯…以前對咖啡的印象就只有烘培好的深咖啡色豆子…），顏色鮮明的紅色果實與嬌小可愛的白色小花，著實讓我有種"原來長這樣"的感覺。此外，也看到製作與烘培咖啡的各個過程與用具。令一個讓我印象深刻的展示，就是一整排各種烘培度的咖啡豆從輕度、中度至深度等按次序排列，從前只會喝咖啡而不究咖啡學問的我，終於稍微了解到箇中差異，雖然還不算是一個咖啡通，不過至少也能夠「喝得有文化一點」…There are six permanant exhibition areas, introducing the origin, plantation, distribution, toasting and culture of coffee as well as basic information. We took the escalator that brought us from the ground floor to the top floor and started the visit following a circular route through every exhibition area. Various interpretation methods, including images, texts, films, and audio messages, are used to accompany artefacts. It offers quite a diversified visual interests to the visitors. The most impressive part for me is the coffee plants that are exhibited in a green house structure. It was the first time that I've ever got to see a real coffee tree, its red fruit and the white flowers. (Yes... the only impression I had about coffee is the toasted coffee beans... what a shame...) Besides, there's a collection of various equipments that were used for toasting coffee. Another impressive view is formed by eight "tubes" of coffee beans with different toasted degrees. I've realized that it's quite a deep "knowledge" and I can eventually enjoy my coffee "with a bit more culture" after the visit.
在第五展示室中，陳列著來自世界各地的咖啡杯、各種煮咖啡的器具，還有各地咖啡名店的菜單和杯墊等。我和表妹兩人除了忙著欣賞美麗的咖啡杯、觀看各個示範咖啡沖泡的影片以外，也努力地記下所謂的咖啡名店到底是哪些，有機會到該地旅行也可以去試試。只是，以我自己在義大利的經驗而言，這些名店的咖啡有時候不一定好喝，很多時候是因為其他原因而聲名大噪，例如義大利威尼斯一地的Florian Cafe'，咖啡貴地要死，也並不是太特別，當時真的跑進去，還不是因為生性浪漫的老公想要讓我看看這家威尼斯最老的咖啡館裡有著哪些漂亮的裝潢，現在到威尼斯去的時候，每次必定會去報到喝咖啡買咖啡的地方，倒是變了…
In the fifth exhibition area, there're coffee cups, coffee makers, menus from famous cafe's from all over the world. We were busy looking around and watching the short films which introduce how to make various styles of coffee. We also tried to take a note of all the famous cafe's so that we might get the chance to visit these places in person in the future. However, with my own experiences in Italy, coffee from these famous cafe's is not necessarily good. Many become famous for other reasons. Take the Florian Cafe' in Venice as an example. The coffee that is served inside the shop is really expensive, and honestly nothing too special about it. I actually went inside with my husband because he wanted to show me the beautiful decoration of it. It is anyway the oldest cafe' in Venice. My must go place for coffee in Venice is actually somewhere else.
最後一個展示區有著互動式的電腦測驗，據說只要仔細地參觀博物館，一定能夠通過測驗，拿到咖啡博士的證書。只是我和表妹對這東西並不是太感興趣，看了一眼就直接跳過走向賣店了。
There's a computer quiz in the last exhibition area. It is said that if one visits the museum carefully, he should be able to pass the exam and get the certificate as a "coffee doctor". Honestly we weren't too interested in this kind of thing. So we took a look and then went into the museum shop.
手上拿著購票時拿到的咖啡店折價卷一百日圓，站在門口看著菜單上各種咖啡，聞著迎面而來的咖啡香，只是飢腸轆轆地兩人，迫不及待地想要找地方坐下來好好吃頓飯，看到菜單上並沒有什麼可吃的東西，我們就直接離開了博物館，而放棄了在館內品嘗咖啡的機會…
With a 100 yen coupon that we received when we entered the museum, we stood in front of the museum cafe' and tried to check its menu. The smell of the coffee was inviting but we were just so hungry that we wanted to find a place to have lunch. There weren't too many main meals in the cafe' so we just left the museum and gave up the chance to taste the coffee in the coffee museum...
Official Museum Web Site：www.ucc.co.jp/eng/
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