{"id":2210,"date":"2021-04-04T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp?post_type=roasters&p=2210"},"modified":"2025-05-13T14:16:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T05:16:24","slug":"mame-porepore","status":"publish","type":"roasters","link":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/narratives\/roasters\/mame-porepore\/","title":{"rendered":"Mame Porepore"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The specialty coffee shop, Mame Porepore is well known for recommending the best coffee according to your taste from a wide selection of lineup. Mr. Nakamura, who is from Okinawa, Japan was the runner-up in the World Coffee Roasting Championship in 2018, a competition of coffee roasting techniques. We interviewed Mr. Nakamura, who says, \u201cI try to roast coffee beans in a way that I can maximize the potential of the coffee.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Very tolerant; Okinawa\u2019s individuality<\/h4>\n

Okinawans are known for being relaxed with time, so much so that it has been referred to as \u201cuchina time\u201d which means that they don\u2019t live by the clock. Many people outside of Okinawa prefecture are puzzled by this common sense of not living by the clock, but it is one of the many characteristics of Okinawans and their personality. Nakamura has lived in Okinawa for more than forty years and has been running a coffee shop for more than ten years. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to coffee culture, Okinawa is a place where the expression is free. In Tokyo, where quality is more important, single-origin and light roast coffee is categorized as specialty coffee, but in Okinawa, there is no such distinction,\u201d stated Nakamura. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are fine with commercial coffee (inexpensive coffee for the masses), while others prefer the bitter coffee of an old-fashioned coffee shop. Okinawans are very casual in a good way. If it\u2019s good enough for Okinawans, it\u2019s perfect. That\u2019s why the coffee market in Okinawa is so mixed.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Okinawa\u2019s coffee culture overlaps with the style of Mame Porepore, which offers a wide variety of beans roasted at the shop, from different origins to different varieties to roast levels, and recommends one particular coffee according to the customer\u2019s tastes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI try to roast coffee in a way that brings out the best flavor that reflects on the environment in which it was grown; the individuality of the producers so that each coffee is not too similar to the other. The measure of excellence varies from one person to another person, so I don\u2019t think there is anything that can be said to be \u201cthe best\u201d or \u201cthe most delicious\u201d coffee.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other hand, what my staff and I value more than the taste of the coffee is to make the customers feel comfortable when they come into the shop. Since we are selling face-to-face, we want to be a store that listens to our customers and be part of their lives. Recently, as part of our communication, we have been focusing on sharing the thoughts and narratives of the producers.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Making people happy through coffee.<\/h4>\n

It was 2010 when Nakamura opened Mame Porepore as a specialty coffee shop. Initially, his goal was to introduce good coffee to people, but after a while, his desire to make people happy through coffee became the core of everything he did. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe way to make people happy is not only limited to the deliciousness of coffee. I realized that coffee is something that can provide a wide range of joy. When I\u2019m in a good mood, or even when I\u2019m busy and mentally overwhelmed, a cup of coffee can make me feel a little better. I was left with an impression by a female customer one time who was tired of raising her child, she said,\u201cIt makes me cry when I am drinking coffee in the morning.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2011, he created a place where people can learn about coffee in Okinawa and has been holding workshops and seminars for all coffee lovers from hobbyists to professionals. (*Currently open only for those who plan to start their business.) <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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After more than ten years in business, he continues his research to improve his roasting techniques. In 2018, Nakamura won second place as a representative of Japan in the World Roasting Championship, but he is still not satisfied with the result. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a player,\u201d he states. \u201cBut at the same time, I think I need to develop future generations and expand the way people enjoy coffee. I\u2019m not sure which way I should go, or rather, I\u2019m still in a state of limbo. I want to be useful if I can be useful, but I haven\u2019t fully started to pursue roasting yet.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s delicious!\u201d <\/h4>\n

Nakamura said, \u201cI only had coffee to keep me awake before studying for exams, and I never liked it that much to begin with.\u201d In his early 20s, while he was backpacking around Southeast Asia to learn more about billiards, which was his passion at the time, he was shocked to discover the taste of coffee he drank at a local shop. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so sweet and yet so bitter. Maybe because I was drunk for my first time abroad, but I was also amazed to know that such a drink existed. That was the feeling I felt.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAs my curiosity got the better of me, I did some research and found out that the Vietnamese coffee I drank was born as a result of the local Vietnamese people, who were forced to plant coffees during the French colonial period; they found a way to make the bitter coffee taste better, which made me became more interested in it.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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After returning to Japan, he started working part-time at a coffee shop that served espresso, which was rare in Okinawa. He was even more shocked by the responses he received when he served coffee made according to the store\u2019s recipe to customers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u201cIt’s delicious,\u201d I\u2019ve been bad at drawing and handwriting since I was a child. I was very clumsy, and I couldn\u2019t believe that I was praised by people, and I had made people happy. It was me who became happier.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I was a child, I was routinely scolded and warned for not being able to do things that others can do easily. In junior high school and high school, the difference between me getting a 1 or 2 on a 5-point scale grade (5 is the best) for diligently working on a project in arts and crafts class and others receiving a 3 or 4 for skipping class to smoke a cigarette stimulated a sense of inferiority in me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a child, I longed to be \u201cnormal.\u201d So when I was able to make good coffee, it was the first time I felt like a normal person. That\u2019s when I knew I wanted to make even better coffee so I can make people happy.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Looking at coffee from various angles. <\/h4>\n

\u201cEven if I wanted to learn about roasting; no one could teach me in the past when the information was not easily accessible.\u201d He began his journey to find out \u201cWhat is good coffee?\u201d by taking various approaches. <\/p>\n

He got and read many books on coffee. If there was a coffee shop that caught his attention, he would go there and try it, whether it was within or outside the prefecture he lived in. He participated in seminars held in Tokyo and Osaka, which were at the forefront of the industry. He procured green coffee beans from various places, roasted them, and distributed them to his friends and acquaintances to get their feedback. There was no \u201chardship\u201d in this process, but rather a sense of becoming an obsessive enthusiast as he immersed himself in the process. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s my character, and when I get into something, I tend to get absorbed in it. That\u2019s why I cause trouble to the people around me. When I was in university, I was addicted to billiards and practiced all the time in my free time. If things didn\u2019t go well, I would sink into a bad mood. When I think back on it now, I was hard to get along with.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Nakamura\u2019s journey from working part-time at a coffee shop to opening Mame Porepore is somewhat unique. He once worked at a bakery for a year and at an interior finishing company for six years to save money to open his own business and he traveled outside of Okinawa to the mainland of Japan to work as a factory worker for about a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to look at coffee from different angles. Sometimes it is better to change industries to gain a better understanding of coffee. My way of thinking is that as long as you keep the fundamentals in check, the branches and leaves can be adjusted to suit your needs. During my time working at the interior finishing company, I was very much influenced by the strictness of the craftsmen and the way they approach their work.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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I felt my clumsiness was a strength. <\/h4>\n

Nakamura is aware that he is not as driven as he should be, so he aimed to win the World Coffee Roasting Championship, which was around 2014. Even after failing to be qualified within Japan, he was able to achieve second place in 2018, but he still maintains his passion as a challenger. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven in Okinawa, where information is scarce, there must be many ways to improve skills. It\u2019s cooler to say that you did it even though you\u2019re in Okinawa and not that you can\u2019t do it because you\u2019re in Okinawa. I\u2019ve always been a child who doesn\u2019t like to give up, but even now as an adult, I still feel that I can do more and want to do more.\u201d <\/p>\n

Billiards, which he became obsessed with during his university days was a pursuit of pleasure. For Nakamura, coffee brought a new kind of joy, \u201cthe joy of making others happy.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Twenty years have passed since then, and the desire to fill the gap between him and the \u201cnormal\u201d people took him into the realm of the not normal. <\/p>\n

He said, \u201cSomewhere along the line, I came to think of clumsiness as not a weakness but as a strength. If I hadn\u2019t found coffee, I might not be where I am today.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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While pursuing the taste of coffee, he also looks at the appeal of coffee beyond its taste. Perhaps, it is this rich perspective that attracts people to Nakamura. <\/p>\n

The text was originally written in Japanese by Tatsuya Nakamichi.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2213,"template":"","prefectures":[8,886],"roasters-category":[3,19],"cut_article_video":[979,983],"roasterss_area":[984,986],"acf":[],"toolset-meta":{"roasters%e7%94%a8field-group":{"roaster-kvmode":{"type":"radio","raw":"2"},"image-roaster":{"type":"image","raw":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Mame_PorePore_2021_FINAL_06-1024x1536.jpg","attachment_id":null},"name-roaster":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Yoshiyuki Nakamura"},"roaster-copy":{"type":"textfield","raw":"\u201cI want to prove that I can do it in Okinawa.\u201d The thoughts of the owner, who has the world\u2019s second-highest roasting skill."},"roaster-shopname":{"type":"textarea","raw":"Mame Porepore"},"roaster-shop-image":{"type":"image","raw":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Mame_PorePore_2021_FINAL_14-1536x1024.jpg","attachment_id":null},"roaster-oncup":{"type":"textarea","raw":"It\u2019s the coffee you drink with someone. No matter when or where you drink it, coffee seems to accompany you through the time, and fills your heart."},"roaster-favorite-farm":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"roaster-favorite-beans":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"roaster-ec":{"type":"url","raw":""}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters\/2210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/roasters"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters\/2210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13038,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters\/2210\/revisions\/13038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"prefectures","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prefectures?post=2210"},{"taxonomy":"roasters-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters-category?post=2210"},{"taxonomy":"cut_article_video","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cut_article_video?post=2210"},{"taxonomy":"roasterss_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasterss_area?post=2210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}