Former TV Asahi announcer Yue Takeuchi, “From station announcer to roaster” – “My mother told me that Yue is a strong tiger.

Encounter of Tiger and Coffee

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

Freelance announcer Yue Takeuchi (39) began a little shyly.

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 brand “renag coffee” in his hand. He started 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.

However, it was not until after she moved 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 on earth will be left for me now that the organization’s sign is gone?

So he started working part-time at a café about an hour’s drive from his home.

I started working part-time at a café on Lake Hamana right after I moved here. I learned a lot about how to make customers feel comfortable, but I realized that I did not want to work in the hospitality industry. Rather, I was attracted to the world of craftsmanship, where you can build up your skills. I was also interested in the world of competition, where I could sell my products widely and make it a successful business. I realized that I could make that happen when I started the coffee business, and now I am very excited about it.

He started out with frying pans and hand-cranked roasting, but the amount of money he has invested so far speaks eloquently of his determination.

He says, “About a year after I moved here, I bought a small roasting machine for about 1 million yen and started practicing. Then, a wave of “Now! I bought a top-of-the-line German-made “PROBAT” last year. This is a famous machine that is called the Ferrari of the roasting machine world!　It is a used machine that will last a lifetime and will never go out of style. It cost me nearly 10 million yen including the initial cost, but I decided immediately to pay for it all on my own. The probat I own is a 5-kilogram kettle, but to be honest, it’s not enough to become a store that delivers large quantities to customers. If I really want to go higher, I need to have a 20- or 25-kilogram roasting machine. It is small for the dream I have, so I am not satisfied with the size I have now.

Three Hours” is the Best Happiness

As a mother of two children, she is busy raising them and working hard at the same time. She says the only time she can devote herself to her work is late at night.

I go to bed with my children at 9 pm and wake up at 2 am. I call the time from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. 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.”

I wondered if working alone brought back any memories of his days as a station announcer. When I asked him this, his expression softened.

I don’t have many friends who are announcers, so I don’t think so. However, looking back on “Music Station,” it was like a dream world. The thing that left the biggest impression on me was when SPEED performed for the first time after their reunion in ’08, I was so moved during the show that I cried. I had loved them since I was in elementary school and I just couldn’t stop crying. …… That place was the very stage that was filled with everyone’s youth.

When the conversation turned to host Tamori (80), he reminisced fondly.

I learned from Tamori-san the fun of pursuing one thing at a time,” he said. I bought books and visited places mentioned in the conversation because I wanted to talk about slopes with him (laughs).

Toward the end of the interview, when I asked him about his future ambitions, he continued with a specific figure of “100 million yen in annual sales in three years.

Currently, we mainly sell our products through our e-commerce site, but eventually we would like to open a physical store. On the other hand, I also have a rule at work that I don’t give my all to my work. I want to spend time with my children, so I don’t devote all my time to work as I did when I was single. It might be easier if I gave it my all, but I chose not to, and I am struggling with it. I am still a baby as a manager (laughs).

The woman who used to read out manuscripts in the spotlight finds happiness in the coffee she makes in the dark late at night.

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