Former TV Asahi Star Yoshie Takeuchi Reinvents Herself as a Coffee Roaster

A meeting of tigers and coffee

“Six years since leaving the company, and I’ve never regretted it once. I’m a strong tiger.”

Freelance announcer Yoshie Takeuchi (39) began the interview with a slightly shy smile.

After joining TV Asahi in 2008, she served as the eighth sub-host of Music Station and as a caster on Hōdō Station SUNDAY. After leaving the network at the end of 2019, she relocated to Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and began pursuing a second career as a roaster while continuing freelance work.

In her hands during the interview was a package from her own brand, renag coffee. She officially launched online sales through an e-commerce site in December last year. The design features a humorous yet powerful depiction of a tiger and her cub.

“I was born in the year of the Fire Tiger, and my mother always told me when I was a child, ‘Yoshie, you’re a strong tiger’ (laughs). That phrase has stayed with me. When I thought about creating a character for my brand, I decided to make this strong tiger the icon.”

Her choice to pursue the craft of coffee roasting traces back to a fateful cup she encountered during her days as a network announcer.

“I was originally a tea person and didn’t like black coffee. But the moment I drank specialty coffee at Maruyama Coffee in Tokyo, it was so delicious that it felt like being struck by lightning. Since then, brewing it myself every day has become a part of my life.”

However, she only resolved to turn it into a career after moving to Hamamatsu to live with her husband, who works there.

“After getting married in 2019, I quit the company and at first thought it might be nice to just be a full-time housewife. But after trying it, I realized it wasn’t for me (laughs). When I stopped and thought, ‘Now that I don’t have the backing of an organization, what do I really have left?’ the only thing that came to mind was coffee.”

She began by taking a part-time job at a café about an hour’s drive from her home.

“Right after moving, I worked part-time at a café near Lake Hamana. I learned a lot from all the ways they made customers feel comfortable, but I realized that customer service wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was drawn to a world where I could build technical skills, and I was interested in the challenge of creating a product and successfully selling it as a business. Starting a coffee business allowed me to do that, and now I’m really excited.”

She initially started with a frying pan and a manual roaster, but the money she’s invested so far speaks to her determination.

“About a year after moving, I bought a small roaster for around one million yen to practice. Then, when the right moment came, I purchased a top-of-the-line German PROBAT. It’s called the Ferrari of roasting machines! Even used ones hold their value—it’s a lifelong investment. Including initial costs, it was nearly 10 million yen, all paid out of my own pocket on the spot. My Probat has a five-kilogram drum, but honestly, it’s nowhere near enough for a store that delivers in large quantities. If I really want to reach the top, I’d need a 20- or 25-kilogram roaster. Compared to the dream I’m aiming for, this size is small, so I’m not satisfied with it yet.”

Three hours is her greatest happiness

Balancing work while raising two children, her days are extremely busy. She says the only time she can fully immerse herself is late at night.

“I go to bed with the kids at 9 p.m. and wake up at 2 a.m. From then until 5 a.m. is what I call my golden time (laughs). It’s only three hours, but in a quiet room with no one else, I can tweak my website design, reply to customer emails, think about the beans it’s pretty mundane (laughs). But that time spent doing what I love is my greatest happiness.”

When asked whether working alone brings back memories of her announcer days, her expression softened slightly.

“I don’t have many friends who are announcers, so I don’t really think about it. But looking back, Music Station felt like a dream world. The most memorable moment was in 2008 when SPEED appeared for the first time after reuniting. I was so moved during the live broadcast that I cried. I’ve loved them since elementary school, so I just couldn’t stop the tears. That stage was filled with everyone’s青春 (youth) memories.”

When the conversation turned to the host Tamori (80), she looked back nostalgically.

“I learned from Tamori-san the fun of pursuing something thoroughly. He loves slopes, so I would buy books and even visit places that came up in conversation just to talk with him (laughs). His curiosity and how deeply he could get excited over even something like a Y-shaped street is something that carries over to my coffee-making today.”

At the end of the interview, when asked about her future ambitions, she gave a concrete goal: 100 million yen in annual sales within three years, and continued:

“Right now, sales are mainly through the e-commerce site, but eventually I’d like to have a physical store. At the same time, I’ve set a personal rule of not going all in at work. I want to value time with my kids, so I won’t dedicate all my time to work like I did when I was single. Going all in might be easier, but I choose not to and work through the struggle. I’m still a baby as a business owner (laughs).”

The woman who once read scripts under the spotlight has found happiness facing coffee in the quiet of the night.

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