Every month, our coffee subscription features a partner roaster from somewhere in Japan. With Japan Roaster Journey, we visit their towns to see what shapes them: the city, the community, and the people around them.
This time we spent a day in Takasaki, Gunma, with Fukushima-san of warmth, our partner roaster for December 2025.
Takasaki is a car town. A few years ago there was nowhere to walk in, grab a good cup and head out into the city. Fukushima-san kept hoping someone would open one, and in the end he built it himself. Today warmth runs three very different places: the original coffee stand near Takasaki Station, warmth Hanare, a roastery in a restored Edo-period storehouse, and warmth Bettei, a 10-seat counter restaurant in the former Nakasone family villa.
The episode follows the day as it happened: the coffee stand, yakimanju at Iidamaya (run by his hometown senior Arai-san, where coffee fermentation know-how helped bring their manju dough in-house), the Giesen roaster at Hanare, Chef Suzuki's coffee-inspired cooking and cocktails at Bettei, and a long talk over sushi about training baristas and raising the team's "density."
He started warmth with "not even one millimeter" of desire to express himself. What he built feels less like a personal statement and more like a front door to his town.
"Coffee is something I could never solve, even with my whole life."
Filmed in November 2025. English and Japanese subtitles.
About Kurasu Coffee Subscription
Each delivery features a rotating selection of coffees, including partner roasters from different regions of Japan and seasonal coffees roasted by Kurasu in Kyoto.
▶︎ Explore the subscription
Watch on YouTube
More from Japan Roaster Journey: ENDELEA COFFEE, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto
