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This small coffee shop run by husband and wife in Japan won a big prize for its unconventional packaging design.

Published: 2026-01-15 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/01/15, Ken Kamiya is a furniture designer who grew up in Wakayama Prefecture on the south coast of Honshu, Japan. Later, because of his work, he moved to Fukushima

Ken Kamiya is a furniture designer who grew up in Wakayama Prefecture on the south coast of Honshu, Japan. Later, because of work, he moved to Fukushima to live. But after the leak at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011, Ken Kamiya decided to return to Wakayama to live with his family.

Wakayama prefecture has unique open-air soup, the most delicious Japanese ramen, and the 1700-year-old Zhihuo Festival. Although its light is not as bright as the bustling and fashionable Osaka, it is a good place for one party to quietly experience the local culture and history of Japan.

After Ken Kamiya moved back to Wakayama, he was disappointed that many of the small shops run by couples are now closed. Kamiya's wife is an experienced coffee bean roaster, so he and his wife decided to open a small coffee shop, The Roasters, which specializes in coffee bean sales. The two men selected coffee from famous producing areas such as Indonesia, Tanzania, Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Costa Rica, which were carefully roasted and sold to customers. At the same time, Kamiya also uses this as its own design studio.

In order to improve the brand recognition of The Roasters coffee beans, they hired young graphic designer Masashi Murakami Murakami to design the packaging.

Masaji Murakami gave up the clay tones, Kraft paper bags or various forms that emphasize organic concepts commonly used in coffee bean packaging, and instead used a combination of color and geometry, which had to be said to be a bold and imaginative attempt. The handwritten black letters indicate the origin of each coffee bean.

A variety of bright and highly saturated colors are spread out on white-bottomed boxes, making it easy to mistake them for toothpaste, gum or effervescent tablets packaging. At least when you see this kind of packaging, it's hard to associate it with words like coffee beans and roasting.

But it was this unconventional packaging that helped Masaji Murakami win the 2016 JAGDA Outstanding designer Award.

It is worth mentioning that The Roasters is only open on weekdays and closes on Wednesday. On weekends, in the mountains 30 minutes from The Roasters, Ken Kamiya and his wife run another weekend cafe, THE STAND, which is open only on weekends and offers a simple vegetarian lunch.