Philosophy

% Arabica is about my love for coffee, design, and seeing the world.

My story begins in Tokyo, Japan. Being raised by parents who were enthusiasts of a universal language called “Esperanto”, we would travel abroad every summer to attend a World Esperanto Congress held in different countries. My father was the owner of a manufacturing and trading company, and together with his frequent business trips, they would take me overseas whenever possible — ultimately helping to inspire my love of multiculturalism, design, and architecture.

Through experiencing different cultures, seeing rich and poor people, happy and unhappy people, I started to wonder who I was, and asked myself what kind of life I wanted to live.

After my high school graduation, I moved to California for college. I settled into a snug apartment in Venice Beach and indulged myself in the unique fusion of beach hippie culture. It was during my college years that my love for coffee started. In the 1990s, Starbucks began to expand throughout the country, capturing me with their new coffee culture and serene atmosphere. I spent lots of my days at the Starbucks in Venice Beach, either talking with friends or studying.

Upon graduating from college, I started work for a trading company, which allowed me to travel overseas for business. A lot was learned from working closely with business owners around the world; I gained valuable insights into their mindset towards work and life. And although most of them were very wealthy, I found that some were happy and others were not. This caused me to keep asking the same two questions:

Who am I?
What kind of life do I want to live?

I reflected on them over and over. Eventually, I found my answers.

・I want to live a simple and down-to-earth life.
・I only need the basics to be satisfied: food, clothing and a house.
・As my parents did for me, I also want to travel with my children and provide a higher standard of life for them.

And my last answer was coffee.

I truly need an amazing cup of coffee every day. This is why I founded % Arabica.

So to create the best coffee possible, I borrowed money and bought a coffee farm in Hawaii. I also started trading green beans from around the world and became the sole exporter of a Japanese roasting machine, along with the distributor of one of the best espresso machines in the world. Then in September 2014, I opened a coffee roastery in Kyoto, where Japanese culture and tradition still live strong.

Twelve years have passed since then, and % Arabica has opened nearly 250 stores around the world. However, our core belief has not changed. We do not chase profit. We put quality first. We want to become coffee specialists trusted and relied upon by coffee lovers around the world. And for this, we dedicate our lives to traveling to the origins and cupping every week, to find the world’s best beans and bring our customers a simple, delicious cup.

For us, two words matter most.

The first is a Japanese word, kenbun. To see the world, to listen, and to widen your horizon. We want to open stores in amazing places around the world, so we can keep widening kenbun together with our baristas and customers.

The second is the Japanese concept of the Way — dō. The way of tea, of flowers, of calligraphy, of the sword, of judo. Japan has many practices that end in that word. We believe each person should widen their kenbun by seeing the world, then find their own Way, go deep into it, and master it throughout their life. This concept is the root of Japanese craftsmanship.

The way we chose is the way of coffee. We want to live this way, deepen our skill and knowledge, and become a brand the world can rely on.

November 2026