Former TV Asahi announcer turned roaster, Yue Takeuchi: “What I learned from Tamori is still relevant today.

Fateful encounter with coffee

Six years after leaving the company, I have never regretted it. I am a ″strong tiger″.

Freelance announcer Yue Takeuchi (39) cut in, looking a bit embarrassed.
After joining TV Asahi in 2008, she became the 8th sub-host of “Music Station” and anchor of “News Station SUNDAY. After leaving the company at the end of 2007, he moved to Hamamatsu City (Shizuoka Prefecture) and began his second career as a “roaster” while continuing his freelance activities.

When interviewed, Takeuchi held a package of his own brand “renag coffee” in his hand. He began full-scale sales through an e-commerce site he opened last December. The design depicts a somewhat humorous and powerful father and son tiger.

I was born in the year of the tiger, and since I was a child, my mother told me that Yue is a strong tiger” (laughs). Those words have always stuck with me. When I thought about creating a character for my brand, I decided to make this ‘strong tiger’ an icon.

The reason why he chose to become a roaster was because of a “cup of destiny” he encountered while he was an announcer at a local station.

I was always a tea drinker and didn’t like black coffee. But the moment I had a cup of specialty coffee at Maruyama Coffee in Tokyo, it was so delicious that I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. Since then, it has become so much a part of my life that I brew my own coffee every day.

It was after moving to Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, where her husband was working, that she decided to make it her “job.

I quit my job when I got married in ’19, and at first I thought it might be a good idea to live as a full-time housewife. But when I actually tried it, unfortunately I found that it wasn’t for me (laughs). When I stopped and thought, ‘What in the world will be left for me now that I no longer have a signboard for an organization?

A mother of two children, she is also raising them and working hard as a freelance announcer, so her day is never too busy. She says the only time she can devote herself to coffee is late at night.

I go to bed with my kids at 9 pm and wake up at 2 am. I call the time from there to 5 am my “golden time” (laughs). It’s only 3 hours, but I can be found in a quiet room with no one around, tinkering with the design of the website, replying to customer inquiry emails, and thinking about beans. …… It’s very simple, isn’t it (laughs)? But that time spent doing what I love is what makes me happiest.

Takeuchi, who was once in the spotlight of the glamorous industry, now cherishes the “three hours” he spends with his coffee.

In the January 16 issue of “FRIDAY January 30/February 6” and the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” Takeuchi talks candidly about his memories of his MST days and his ambitions for the future.

For more details and multiple photos, click here↓.

From the January 30/February 6, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY