This month’s #KurasuPartnerRoaster is ENDELEA COFFEE, based in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto. About an hour’s drive south from Kumamoto City, Yatsushiro is a town filled with history, culture, and rich natural surroundings. “ENDELEA” is a Swahili word meaning “continuation / evolution.” Owner Miyazaki-san explains:

“People change—sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad ways. Our feelings change with the times. But when you view that change positively, it becomes evolution. That’s why I chose this word.”

Their memorable logo was designed by a local designer, capturing a humorous idea: “Think about coffee long enough, and your head evolves into a bean.”

In his twenties, Miyazaki-san dreamed of making a living through music. While working at Honda’s motorcycle plant in Kumamoto, he continued his band activities. However, at age 30, he decided to step into the food and beverage world and started his career at Starbucks. Although it started out just as a job to make ends meet, the encounter with coffee ultimately changed Miyazaki-san’s life.

One day, he picked up an issue of BRUTUS, featuring overseas roasters. The stylish, expressive coffee shops abroad left a strong impact: “I remember thinking, ‘Coffee shops out there can be this cool?’”

He also connected deeply with coffee culture overseas, where coffee intertwined with skateboarding and band culture—scenes that felt close to his own identity.

Alongside his job, he began hand-roasting green beans he received from a local coffee shop. He started selling beans at local markets around Kumamoto, continuing this pop-up roasting style for four years.

“Watching the beans turn from green to yellow, then hearing them crack right in front of me—those firsthand experiences were huge for me.”

After eight years at Starbucks, he opened ENDELEA COFFEE in 2017 in his hometown of Yatsushiro.

According to Miyazaki-san, coffee and music are very similar at their cores. When he first came across a shop that fully expressed the owner’s personality, he thought: “This is expression.”

As someone who used to write original music, the desire to make people happy with his own expression is still at the core of what he does. To him, both music and coffee are forms of expression—ways to live through creativity.

“Of course coffee quality matters, but shops where you can feel the personality of the owner—those are the ones that are truly compelling.”

Miyazaki-san roasts with a vintage 1960 Old Probat. He previously focused on light roasts, but now his approach centers on “applying heat carefully to draw out sweetness.”

In 2021, he opened a second shop in Kumamoto City, and in April 2026, a third location will open inside the Yatsushiro Museum. At the Yatsushiro shop, he uses well water, allowing the natural character of the land to appear directly in the cup. Rooted in the local community yet always evolving, ENDELEA COFFEE continues to carve out new forms of expression through coffee.

If you’re ever in Kumamoto, we hope you’ll visit and experience Miyazaki-san’s expression firsthand — through a cup of his coffee.

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