Origins · Table II
25 RECORDS · 24 CITIES
The Japanese
roaster short list.
From Maruyama (1991) to Bear Pond (2009) to Koffee Mameya (2017) — the houses defining Japan's third wave. Filter by city or founding decade.
Showing 25 of 25
| Roaster | City | Founded | Founder | Signature origins | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wataru Coffee | Meguro, Tokyo | 1955 | Wataru Co., Ltd. (green coffee trading house) | Long-term farm relationships across origins · Brazil · Ethiopia + | → |
| Horiguchi Coffee 堀口珈琲 | Setagaya, Tokyo | 1990 | Toshihide Horiguchi | Blend-focused · Central American single origins · Ethiopia | → |
| Maruyama Coffee 丸山珈琲 | Karuizawa, Nagano | 1991 | Kentaro Maruyama | Direct-trade single origins · Panama Geisha · Multiple barista-championship lots | → |
| Weekenders Coffee | Kyoto (Sakyo / Tominokoji) | 2005 | Masahiro Kaneko | Light-to-medium washed origins · Ethiopia · Central America | → |
| Coffee Potohoto | Naha, Okinawa | 2006 | Tetsuji Yamada | ~30% direct trade · Okinawan farms incl. ADA Farm | → |
| Bear Pond Espresso | Shimokitazawa, Tokyo | 2009 | Katsuyuki Tanaka | Espresso-focused · In-house blend ('Angel Stain' shot) | → |
| Mamepolepole | Okinawa City, Okinawa | 2010 | Yoshiyuki Nakamura | Single origins · Africa · Espresso | → |
| Sarutahiko Coffee 猿田彦珈琲 | Ebisu, Tokyo | 2011 | Otoharu Otsuka | Direct-trade Central America · Ethiopia · Broad commercial accessibility | → |
| Fuglen Coffee Roasters Tokyo | Shibuya (Tomigaya), Tokyo | 2012 | Einar Holthe, Halvor Skiftun Digernes (Oslo); Kenji Kojima (Tokyo) | Nordic light roasts · Ethiopia · Kenya + | → |
| Onibus Coffee | Nakameguro, Tokyo | 2012 | Atsushi Sakao | Ethiopia · Kenya · Colombia + | → |
| Coffee County | Fukuoka (Yakuin / Kurume original roastery) | 2013 | Yuya Mori | Central America focus · El Salvador · Guatemala + | → |
| Kurasu | Kyoto (Nishijin Roastery) | 2013 | Yozo Otsuki | Medium roasts · Partner Roaster subscription with Japanese micro-roasters · Ethiopia + | → |
| Switch Coffee Tokyo | Meguro, Tokyo | 2013 | Masahiro Onishi | Honduras · Kenya · Ethiopia | → |
| % Arabica | Kyoto (Higashiyama flagship) | 2014 | Kenneth Shoji | Hawaii Kona (Shoji-owned farm) · Ethiopia · Colombia + | → |
| Akito Coffee | Kofu, Yamanashi | 2014 | Akito Tanzawa | Light roasts · Rotating single origins | → |
| Light Up Coffee | Kichijoji, Tokyo | 2014 | Yuma Kawano, Tamito Aihara | Light-roast single origins · Asia origins (Myanmar, Indonesia) · Africa | → |
| LiLo Coffee Roasters | Osaka (Amerikamura, Shinsaibashi) | 2014 | Keita Nakamura | Broad single-origin range · Ethiopia · Kenya + | → |
| Single O Japan | Ryogoku, Tokyo (Roastworks) | 2014 | Yu Yamamoto (Single O Australia est. 2003 in Sydney) | Direct trade · PNG · Ethiopia + | → |
| Trunk Coffee | Nagoya, Aichi | 2014 | Yasuo Suzuki, Kiyohito Tanaka | Nordic-style light roasts · Coffee beer | → |
| Glitch Coffee & Roasters | Jimbocho, Tokyo | 2015 | Kiyokazu Suzuki | Light-roast single origins · Geisha · Ethiopia + | → |
| Mel Coffee Roasters | Osaka | 2016 | Masahiko Fumimoto | Direct-trade single origins · Ethiopia · Colombia | → |
| Koffee Mameya | Omotesando, Tokyo | 2017 | Eiichi Kunitomo | Multi-roaster: curates beans from leading roasters globally · Kakeru concept = brewed bar | → |
| Little Darling Coffee Roasters | Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo | 2018 | — | Direct trade · Central + South America · Espresso blends | → |
| Post Coffee | Shibuya, Tokyo | 2018 | Akihiro Shimoda | Subscription multi-roaster · Personalization | → |
| Zhyvago Coffee Roastery | Chatan (American Village), Okinawa | 2020 | Kentaro | San Francisco-influenced · Espresso-led | → |
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