Japanese Roasters

Kon’nichiwa!

Welcome to explore our Japanese Coffee roasters. 

We work in co-operation with top artisan roasters to bring you the most delicious, sustainable coffees out there. Here you can get to know the amazing roasters SLURP has to offer from Japan.

GOLPIE COFFEE

Mr Kawai was born into a family-owned coffee wholesale company and started his carrier at a coffee company in Tokyo after he graduated from university. Being attracted to the Pacamara at El Injerto farm in Guatemala, he decided to devote his life to specialty coffee. In 2015, he opened GOLPIE COFFEE in Nagoya and in the same year won the Japan Roasting Championship.

With his concept “Vision of Identity”, Mr Kawai directly sources coffees after cupping them himself at the farm. Bringing out the original flavour of coffee, he strives for well-rounded and rich texture with long lasting notes.

Mr Kawai is also familiar with coffee in a more formal fashion, being a Cup of Excellence judge since 2014.

GLITCH COFFEE

Mr Suzuki, owner and roaster of Glitch coffee, started his career under Paul Basset Tokyo, the world barista champion in 2003. He was engaged in the opening cafes in Asian countries such as South Korea.

He won the Japan Aeropress coffee championship 2014, then opened his cafe in Jinbo-cho in Tokyo, where the Japanese historical coffee culture oriented. He has been exploring single origin speciality coffee, with which he expresses the individual and unique flavours. Mr Suzuki focuses solely on lightly roasting only the best coffee beans. He wants to devote his life to roasting coffee from the farmers he truly respects.

LEAVES COFFEE

LEAVES COFFEE was started in 2016. The roaster Mr. Ishii has a 20-year career in the restaurant business since he was a teenager and he started working in the speciality coffee industry in 2010. He was a professional boxer in Tokyo.

In 2019, he started roasting as Leaves Coffee Roasters with the concept of “from the small town roastery to the world“. He became a barista and self-learned to roast and established his own style.

In the first year of his roasting career, he won first place at JRC (Japan Roast Competition) in the Tokyo area and third place in all Japan. He is aiming to be the best roaster in the world. He named his roasting style “Light roast high development“, and the style maximises the potential of the coffee beans. “Please enjoy coffee with a very comfortable balance of acidity and sweetness and a clean impression. ”

TAKAMURA WINE AND COFFEE ROASTERS

Yuya Iwasaki is responsible for quality control at Takamura Wine and Coffee Roasters in Osaka’s Edogawa district. He was a runner-up at the Japan Coffee Roasting Championship in 2018 and winner at the Japan Aeropress Championship Roast Competition in 2019. One of their baristas made it to the final level of the Japan Hand Drip Championship in 2017 and they say their focus has been on participating in competitions over the last few years.

He has been able to keep improving his technique mainly by bringing his self-roasted coffee to his colleagues and friends and getting their candid feedback. The café has since gained many fans who can look forward to Iwasaki’s roasting techniques on the one hand, and high-quality coffees imported only by Takamura on the other. Last year they started purchasing beans directly from coffee farms. Although this process was only started last year, the roastery hopes to quickly develop deep relationships with the coffee producers in much the same way as they have been doing as a wine shop.

“Select coffee like selecting wine”

ROKUMEI COFFEE CO.

Mr Koji Ida started roasting coffee beans at the Rococo Coffee, a family-run coffee shop in Nara back in 2011. He gained his Q Grader licence in 2013 and was awarded 6th place at the Japan Coffee Roasting Championship after the first challenge.

He opened his own roastery, ROKUMEI COFFEE Co, in Nara in 2015. In 2018 he won the Japan Roasting Championship and participated in the World Coffee Roasting Championship in 2019.

Mr Ida has been engaged in developing the speciality coffee culture at championship level within Japan for many years. All processes are essential for making a cup of coffee as the quote – from seed to cup. Every person behind the processes involved, such as farming and roasting, should be equally compensated for their hard work. “My mission is to create a process chain which enables everyone to be happy.”

PASSAGE COFFEE

Mr. Sasaki, owner and roaster of PASSAGE COFFEE, has been engaged in the coffee industry for 15 years. He started his career under Paul Basset Tokyo, the world barista champion in 2003, and learnt brewing and roasting techniques at his coffee shop, the PAUL BASSET Tokyo. Mr. Sasaki became the World AeroPress Champion in 2014, then opened Passage Coffee in 2017 and its roastery started a year later.

“Like your favourite fruits, coffee beans preserve all the flavours; such as peach, blueberries, apples, or aroma of flowers. When I roast beans, I carefully direct the irreplaceable terroir, soil, varieties, environment and the idea of producers. I am pleased if my coffee provides colours to the people.”

KOTO COFFEE ROASTERS

After travelling to 80 countries around the world in his 20’s, Mr Sakata realised speciality coffee and its ecosystem had the potential to reduce poverty in developing countries. So he opened Koto Coffee Roasters in Nara in 2017, serving coffee and roasted beans.

In 2019 Mr Sakata won the Japan Coffee Roasting Championship and started training for the World Coffee Roasting Championship, held in 2021. He moved to the mountainous area of Nara and re-opened Koto Coffee Roasters as micro-roastery in an old authentic Japanese house, putting his focus on the roast.

ITUKA COFFEE

Ituka Coffee was founded in 2004 in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Mr. Kondo learned to roast there as a trainee first and was hired as a roaster later. He won the Japan Coffee Roasting Championship in 2016. In 2018, he went to Taiwan for a working holiday and worked at a roastery there. After that, returned to Ituka Coffee and he took over as the Managing Director of Ituka coffee in 2020. They create products that are particular about everything from material selection to roasting and sorting so that you can enjoy the taste of each type of coffee. The roastery roasts their coffees with Fuji Royal 5kg.

COFFEE COUNTY

After studying engineering at university, Mr Mori dived into the coffee industry. He worked at a roastery while studying the skills required to manage a roastery himself. During this time, he travelled to central America and lived on a farm in Nicaragua for several months. From his time spent on the farm, Mr Mori gained invaluable knowledge around coffee production. After returning to Japan in 2013, he opened COFFEE COUNTY in Kurume, Fukuoka. In 2014, he placed second at the Japan Roasting Championships. Two branch shops were opened in Fukuoka area in 2016 and 2019.

He challenges himself to always create new products and roasts his beans with two vintage Probat’s, one built in 1955 and the other built in 1980. Using these, Mr Mori is able to extract the original taste of the coffee, which allows his customers to experience the growing environment such as soil, weather and process.

TOWNSFOLK COFFEE

Townsfolk Coffee is a specialty coffee bar and roastery located in Kanazawa, Japan. Established in July 2020, the owner brings a wealth of experience to the establishment: two years as a roaster for Prolog Coffee in Copenhagen, Denmark, and three years as a barista at NOZY COFFEE in Tokyo.

The coffee shop is a unique blend of Danish and Japanese coffee cultures, ensuring a distinctive and memorable experience. The people of the coffee shop pride themselves on serving only the highest quality coffee, drawing from their rich background working at notable establishments such as NOZY COFFEE in Mishuku, Tokyo, and Prolog Coffee Bar in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Beyond their exquisite beverages, they also offer coffee beans wholesale to restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores. For those considering opening their own coffee businesses, they provide comprehensive support, including machine selection, drink preparation techniques, and operational training.

TOKADO COFFEE

Naoki Goto boasts a commendable record in both domestic and international competitions, most notably clinching the title at the World Coffee Roasting Championship in 2013. He honed his craft under the mentorship of Mr. Mamoru Taguchi, where he mastered the foundational skills of roasting.

Goto’s philosophy on flavour creation revolves around producing a coffee so compelling that one could enjoy it daily without growing tired of its taste. He aims to craft a flavour that prompts the drinker to reflect, “That coffee was exceptional,” after just a single cup. Goto believes that “truly outstanding offerings leave a lingering comfort rather than an overpowering emotion. If you dial down emotion too much, that sense of comfort might fade. The ultimate goal is to elevate quality while tempering emotion.”

WEEKENDERS COFFEE

WEEKENDERS has been open since 2005, when it began as a more traditional Japanese coffee shop under a different name. The shop started its coffee roasting operation in 2011, and the Tominokoji location of WEEKENDERS in Kyoto opened in 2016. In 2019 the roastery was moved closer to Tominokoji. The coffee is roasted with an eye to creating a three-dimensional coffee with a lingering taste with a firm sweetness and acidity on top. The green coffee beans are selected by purchasing them from the producing regions, the individuality of the beans is brought out by roasting, and the extraction technique is used to make a great cup of coffee.

“We are happy that the number of processes we are involved in increases every year. I can connect with people all over the world with the cup of coffee that I have finally made after looking and deciding on my own and with the help of various people. I can work with people who share my passion. Receiving such energy, I can continue to aim higher. I believe I am standing in such a place.”

FUKUSUKE COFFEE ROASTERY

Fuku can be translated in different ways; happiness, euphoria, bliss, blessedness and satisfaction. That is exactly what Fukusuke Coffee Roastery wants to offer people.

“Through fine coffee, to deliver “fuku” to everyone’s lives”

Takuya Miura, the representative of FUKUSUKE COFFEE ROASTERY, won the roasting competition 1st Crack Coffee Challenge 2022. He has worked as a barista for a coffee roaster in Canada for a year and there he learned about coffee from around the world. After returning to Japan, he trained for three years at a coffee roaster with the best roasting technology in Japan.