In 2018 I launched a Coffee Roastery in Tokyo where I imported coffee beans from Costa Rica, roasted, and sold said beans to fellow Tokyo-ites.

I registered the company at a (zero English) Japanese Legal Affairs Bureau, took care of the branding/logo, created stop motion promotional videos, and of course, roasted the coffee.

Here is a fun picto-story of that adventure and where it took me. Ultimately being the driving force that led me to UX Design.
Yugen International
Graduated from USNA
Moved to Japan
Lived like a Local
Beached by the House
Did Tokyo Things
Did American Things
Showed Mom Kyoto
"Discovered" Coffee
Moved to Costa Rica
Studied Coffee
Went to Coffee Farms
And Coffee Events
And Coffee Festivals
Met Coffee Farmers
Met Coffee Inspectors
Learned a lot about Coffee
Had to Pay the Bills
Became a Cafe Manager
Did some Cafe Things
Pulled Espresso
Roasted some Coffee
Did Coffee TV Shows
Missed Japan (quite a bit)
Moved back to Tokyo
Opened a Roastery
Made some Garb
Roasted some Coffee
Experimented with Roasts
Sketched Designs
Made some Designs
Did some SNS Posts
Made some Promos
Made some Ads
Registered Yugen
Had to Pay more Bills
Became a Tokyo Barista
Met Swiss Cafe Owners
Met Zushi Baristas
Met Ebisu Baristas
Cupped Coffee
Went to JPN Coffee Farms
Met some Creatives
Introduced to Illustrator
Put Coffee on Pause to Pursue a Career in the Creative Industry.
Yugen International
Graduated from USNA
Moved to Japan
Lived like a Local
Beached by the House
Did Tokyo Things
Did American Things
Showed Mom Kyoto
"Discovered" Coffee
Moved to Costa Rica
Studied Coffee
Went to Coffee Farms
And Coffee Events
And Coffee Festivals
Met Coffee Farmers
Met Coffee Inspectors
Learned a lot about Coffee
Had to Pay the Bills
Became a Cafe Manager
Did some Cafe Things
Pulled Espresso
Roasted some Coffee
Did Coffee TV Shows
Missed Japan (quite a bit)
Moved back to Tokyo
Opened a Roastery
Made some Garb
Roasted some Coffee
Experimented with Roasts
Sketched Designs
Made some Designs
Did some SNS Posts
Made some Promos
Made some Ads
Registered Yugen
Had to Pay more Bills
Became a Tokyo Barista
Met Swiss Cafe Owners
Met Zushi Baristas
Met Ebisu Baristas
Cupped Coffee
Went to JPN Coffee Farms
Met some Creatives
Introduced to Illustrator
Put Coffee on Pause to Pursue a Career in the Creative Industry.
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