LIGHT UP COFFEE is a specialty coffee shop founded in 2014.
ABOUT US
Our Mission
Brighten your day with delicious coffee
LIGHT UP COFFEE sources and roasts unique single-origin coffee that has been painstakingly cultivated, harvested, and refined, and delivers it to you so that it can become a part of your daily life.
We want to convey to you through coffee how delicious coffee can make your day feel a little brighter.
COFFEE AS A CROP
Coffee as an agricultural crop
Coffee is originally the seed of a fruit called coffee cherry. After being harvested once a year, the seeds are removed through a post-processing called refining, and then dried to become green beans. At LIGHT UP COFFEE, we deal in single-origin coffee from each producer as an agricultural product, and promote a coffee culture that enjoys the differences in the characteristics of each production area and maker.
YOUR LIFE WITH A GOOD COFFEE
A light and gentle coffee that fits into your everyday life
We aim to achieve both of these things when purchasing and roasting coffee: to bring out the distinct characteristics of each bean while still achieving a pleasant balance that makes you want to drink it again tomorrow. We are conscious of roasting coffee that is clear, has clear differences between each bean, and retains its sweetness even when it cools down.
Our Team
Passionate about coffee
We currently have a team of about 30 people who handle the store, roasting, online, shipping, and back office.
Our commitment to deliciousness
Roasting and barista team's pursuit of quality
LIGHT UP COFFEE has about 10-15 store members. The roasting team purchases unique and excellent green beans from various green bean trading companies and sometimes from Asian farms that they are involved in running themselves, and roasts them using a Probat UG22 at their roasting facility in Mitaka. They cup the roasted coffee every week to check the quality and continue to update their roasting approach.
The roasting intentions and other details are shared with the whole team in the form of weekly reports, and each store fine-tunes its own idea of "taste" every month. The entire team strives for quality so that we can deliver the most delicious coffee possible to our customers.
In addition, all members of the team meet regularly across all stores to discuss LIGHT UP COFFEE's vision, give reports on the farms, and exchange opinions on services, so that they can all communicate about coffee with the same mindset.
To deliver the coffee experience to many people
Online bean shipping team
LIGHT UP COFFEE delivers coffee experiences to many customers not only in stores but also through its online store.
Among these, our main focus is selling coffee beans, which we send out mainly through regular deliveries to people all over Japan.
In addition to the barista members, the online team consists of 10 to 15 members who handle shipping, social media, and the online store. They are based in the shipping office and carry out packing and shipping every day.
As a coffee shop that aims to easily deliver the charm of coffee to many people, our team works together to carry out online analysis, come up with ideas, and then execute and review the results.
To be a pleasant company
Back Office Team
In order to provide a healthy and comfortable working environment while also providing the coffee you love, we have a team of about five people who handle back office work such as labor, accounting, bookkeeping, and order placement and receipt.
Our History
Our History
July 2014
First store opens in Kichijoji
LIGHT UP COFFEE opened in July 2014 in Kichijoji, Tokyo.
Founder Kawano Yuma was inspired by the fruity flavor of lightly roasted coffee, which led him to develop a passion for the social value and potential of single-origin coffee, and he began roasting his own coffee in a 1kg roaster a year before opening his store. With the desire to "brighten up everyday life with delicious coffee," he named the business LIGHT UP COFFEE, and after a year of operating as an online shop and wholesale to stores, he decided to open a store together with Aihara Tamito, who had been working with him in the coffee industry. (Aihara is now independent and runs a coffee and wine store called Typica in Nishi-Ogikubo.)
They chose Kichijoji, a place full of greenery and calm air where they could concentrate on their senses while enjoying their coffee, and spent a month constructing the store almost entirely with their own hands, from the walls to the tables and counter.
Coffee is served in the light blue cups that he found in London, where he first fell in love with coffee, and in the conical beakers he found in Stockholm. He puts in the utmost care to convey the excitement of coffee.
April 2017
Opened Shimokitazawa store
Later, due to a connection, in October 2016, we opened our long-awaited second store, the Kyoto store in Demachiyanagi, Kyoto.
Furthermore, as the amount of roasting increased, it became necessary to introduce a larger roasting machine, so they began looking for a property where a chimney could be installed.
Our third store, Shimokitazawa, opened in April 2017 as a roastery and coffee stand, located in a quiet residential area between Shimokitazawa and Setagaya Daita, just like Kichijoji.
We have introduced a 5kg Fuji Royal roaster made in Japan, and roast every weekday while checking the quality of the roasting and extraction of each bean, always focusing on delivering delicious coffee that will impress everyone.
In order to make it easier for everyone to enjoy their coffee, we have renovated the shop so that you can order through the window, and we also operate it as an everyday coffee stand where you can enjoy takeaway or sit on the benches.
September 2023
New roastery opens in Mitaka
In December 2019, the fourth store opened on the rooftop floor of Shibuya PARCO.
Considering the impact of COVID-19, we closed our Kyoto store in March 2020 and our Shibuya PARCO store in March 2021. We are strengthening our online presence so that we can deliver coffee beans nationwide. In November 2021, we relaunched our online store.
Since then, online sales, mainly through "regular coffee bean deliveries," have increased, and the amount of coffee we can roast has reached its limit, so in March 2023, we rented a large property in Mitaka, a former automobile factory, and installed a new Probat UG22 22kg roaster. We began full-scale roasting in July, and opened as a coffee shop in September.
Now that we have increased the amount of coffee we can roast, we will focus on both online and offline to deliver coffee to even more people.
What we do
About our efforts
Coffee plantations in Asia
We are working on coffee production together with local producers in Bali, Indonesia and Dalat, Vietnam.
As a fellow Asian coffee-consuming country, we wanted to make Asian coffee as impressive as possible, so we built a refinery in Bali and stayed overnight there during the harvest season to research refinement recipes and production. We also hold farm tours in the producing areas and online production experience events.
A new casual coffee experience
We are constantly developing a variety of new products, such as coffee-related sweets like "Tiramisu" and "Coffee Stollen," as well as "Espresso Cubes" made by quickly freezing and vacuum-sealing espresso, and "Coffee Cola."
Many people hear the term "specialty coffee" and think it is difficult and intimidating, so we thought about how we could make the coffee we sell more accessible and fun for people to enjoy, and we are working on developing a casual product that can be enjoyed without any equipment.
COFFEE SCHOOL
COFFEE SCHOOL is an online school community where you can learn a wide range of things related to coffee, from brewing, serving, and production, with the aim of becoming a barista.
You can learn on-the-job barista techniques and coffee theory, which you would normally only be able to learn by working in a specialty coffee shop, from anywhere, with like-minded colleagues.
Representative / Yuma Kawano
While attending university, he fell in love with coffee and won the national latte art competition in 2012. After that, he discovered single origin coffee and started roasting it himself, opening "LIGHT UP COFFEE" in Kichijoji to brighten up the world with delicious coffee. While running the store, he joined Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. as a UX designer for a year and a half, and then founded Light Up Coffee Co., Ltd. and opened the Kyoto store and Shimokitazawa store. He works as a manager and barista. In an effort to make Asian coffee more delicious, he also produces coffee in Bali and Vietnam.
CEO's Thoughts
I didn't like coffee.
However, one day, he came across a light roasted single origin coffee and was so impressed that he bought a roaster and started researching roasting in the living room of his parents' house. Before he knew it, he was completely fascinated by the world of coffee and wanted to share the appeal of coffee with more people.
In July 2014, we created LIGHT UP COFFEE, named with the meaning of brightening your everyday life through delicious coffee.
We want to convey the joy of the senses through the coffee experience, and make your everyday life more fun and exciting. The sound of brewing, the color, the aroma, the taste and texture when you drink it. We believe that only coffee can create an experience that allows you to enjoy all five senses and easily stimulates your preferences and interests.
At LIGHT UP COFFEE, we purchase, roast, and brew coffee with the aim of providing our customers with unique coffee that they can enjoy on a daily basis. It's interesting to have differences, but if it's too sharp, it won't last long. We are conscious of this delicate balance and pursue coffee that reflects the individuality and charm of each producer, but when communicating, we communicate in a relaxed manner so that it becomes a familiar experience. We continue to face coffee and service every day.
Coffee is fun. Beyond the seemingly difficult techniques and wide range of knowledge, there is a comfort and charm that everyone feels with just one sip. I believe that such charm is created by people and is conveyed with passion because people act as bridges. It is enough to learn about the difficult things after you have become interested. First of all, I would be happy if you could casually feel the fun of unique, fruity coffee. We at LIGHT UP COFFEE will continue to convey the charm of unique coffee as a fun experience. I would be happy if coffee could make the drinker's daily life even more enjoyable and help coffee producers to continue their activities even more.
I hope everyone will love coffee more.
manager
Goto Junna
When I first tried coffee at LIGHT UP COFFEE, I was moved by the gentle, comforting flavor and atmosphere, and had a strong desire to share the coffee I love there, which led me to become a barista.
While sipping coffee, I look at the information card about the beans, enjoy the change in flavor as the temperature changes, and think about things. I love that extra sparkling time until I finish a cup, and I want everyone to spend that time together.
As a barista, I want to never forget the moment I first fell in love with coffee, and I want to convey the feelings of the producers sincerely and carefully. My goal every day is to make customers feel glad that they came to our shop.
Head Barista
Yuki Fukutome
I've been drinking coffee since I was a student, and after studying coffee during a part-time job, I started to aspire to become a barista who could extract, express, and communicate the profound depth of coffee in a variety of ways. I was attracted to LIGHT UP COFFEE not only for its coffee, but also for its concept, space, and the atmosphere created by the baristas, and I thought, "I want to communicate coffee here too!" That's what led me to join the company.
Currently, I value enjoying everything from brewing coffee, adjusting recipes, talking with customers, communicating with coworkers, manners, and behind-the-scenes work. I want customers to feel closer to and more special from coffee that makes the most of the unique characteristics of the producing area, so I try to convey even complex and profound coffee in as simple a way as possible so that it can blend into their daily lives.
