Bringing Seattle's cafe community to Niseko.

My destinations were Seattle, Portland, and Colorado. I had been to Alaska when I was 20 years old and stayed there for only three days. Seattle left a particularly strong impression on me, and I wanted to see it again.

"At the time, I was planning to return to Japan from Alaska via Seattle, but the flight was delayed a day, so I decided to stay for three days instead. This was around 2000, when Seattle's coffee culture had not yet taken root in Japan. I remember tasting the coffee there and being impressed by how delicious it was."

What impressed Touge was not only the taste of the coffee. He was also surprised by the sheer number of cafes. He was also surprised by the culture that is completely different from Japan, where each cafe has its own community.

"For example, near movie theaters there are cafes where movie lovers gather, and near universities there are cafes where students talk about music. I've never seen anything like that even when I went out for coffee in Japan, so it made a big impression on me."

Could there be a cafe in Niseko where outdoor enthusiasts could gather and plan their next activity? Inspired by the cafe culture in Seattle, Togega came across a property of just the right size in front of Kutchan Station after returning to Japan. And thus, SPROUT was born. It was on December 15, 2009.

SPROUT when it first opened

Tougeta had never worked in the coffee business before, but because his wife had connections with Yokoi Coffee in Sapporo, he was able to purchase beans from the company's president, Yokoi, and was taught about coffee from the ground up.

"For the first six years, I used Yokoi's beans and served them in my shop. After a while, I felt a strong desire to try roasting them myself, so I gradually started roasting them after consulting with Yokoi. Roasting is very similar to activities that involve nature, like backcountry skiing or trail running. In the mountains, there are steep sections and gentle sections. Some days the snow is fluffy, others hard. Depending on the day you're skiing or running, you have to adjust your pace to the different environments of nature. I think coffee is similar in that you look at the condition of the beans, the temperature, and the humidity, and then think about how to roast them. I like that act of adapting to nature."