Cafe Yanagase, a takeout coffee stand operated by YANAGASE TECH INC., opens beside the future Yanagase Square as the first shop outside JA Gifu's Onsai Hiroba farm stands to carry the local produce brand Gifural.
YANAGASE TECH INC. (Head office: Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture; Co-Representative Directors: Kay Osawa and Tat Sakanoue) will soft-open Cafe Yanagase, a takeout coffee stand on the first floor of Sunrise Yanagase in Gifu City's Yanagase district, on Sunday, September 20, 2026, to coincide with the Sunday Building Market held in the Yanagase shopping street. Until the full opening in December, the cafe will hold a series of irregular soft openings while it refines its operations.
Cafe Yanagase will carry Gifural, the proprietary cultivation-standard brand of the Gifu Agricultural Cooperative (JA Gifu), in-store. It will be the first shop to carry Gifural outside Onsai Hiroba, the farm stands run directly by JA Gifu, creating a place in the heart of Yanagase where local produce can be bought.
About Cafe Yanagase
The cafe opens in the renovated first floor of Sunrise Yanagase, a space that had sat empty for years, as a takeout coffee stand combining coffee as its mainstay with consignment sales of sweets and food from local creators and delivery to nearby offices. Shelving for local produce was built into the design from the outset, and Gifural products will be sold there.
- Address: Sunrise Yanagase 1F, 2-17-3 Hinode-cho, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture
- Location: directly in front of Yanagase Square, now under construction by Gifu City (scheduled for completion in June 2027)
- Website: https://cafe.yanagase.tech/
- Soft opening: first held on Sunday, September 20, 2026, to coincide with the Sunday Building Market; thereafter on an irregular basis until the full opening in December
- Full opening: December 2026 (planned)
About Gifural
Gifural (Gifu Natural Farming) is a three-tier cultivation-standard brand established by JA Gifu based on consumer feedback, with soil-building as its foundation. The three tiers are represented by leaf logos expressing "soil," "water and sky," and "green."
- One Leaf (gold, one leaf = soil): grown without genetically modified seeds, with soil-building as the basis
- Two Leaves (blue, two leaves = water and sky): One Leaf standards, plus no use of certain pesticides (neonicotinoids and glyphosate) during the growing period
- Three Leaves (green, three leaves = green): One Leaf standards, plus no chemical fertilizers or synthetic pesticides during the growing period
Until now, sales have been limited to the three Onsai Hiroba stands run directly by JA Gifu (Sagiyama, Haguri, and Shinsei). Cafe Yanagase will be the first shop outside JA Gifu's own stores to carry Gifural.
Call for consignment partners
Cafe Yanagase is looking for partners to sell their products in-store on consignment. The call is open to local businesses and creators making sweets, food, and processed goods, with products added progressively from the soft-opening period onward. Applications and inquiries: see the contact details at the end of this release.
Background
Yanagase Tech is a local company that builds on its IT business (contract development and BPO, AI servers, and business telecommunications) and invests the profits in reviving Yanagase's vacant buildings. Cafe Yanagase is positioned at the center of this work of giving back to the community; more than a standalone source of revenue, it aims to be the "front door" that draws people into Yanagase.
Directly in front of the cafe, Gifu City is building Yanagase Square on the site of the former Nagasakiya store, with completion expected around June 2027. The cafe is positioned to catch, in the heart of the town, the flow of people the square will generate.
The Sunday Building Market (known locally as "Sunbiru"), chosen for the first soft opening, is a privately run market held in the Yanagase shopping street since 2014 on the third Sunday of every month (and the first Sunday of even-numbered months). As a shop on the street, the cafe can take part as it is, and will use the market as a showcase to introduce Gifural to the people of the town.
Looking ahead
Until the full opening in December, the cafe will hold soft openings on an irregular basis, mainly on Sunday Building Market days, building a track record in operations and Gifural sales. It also aims to expand the range of Gifural products carried in-store and to bring Gifural vegetables to restaurants in the Yanagase area. Opening days will be announced on Instagram (@cafe.yanagase).
Store overview
| Name | Cafe Yanagase |
|---|---|
| Address | Sunrise Yanagase 1F, 2-17-3 Hinode-cho, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture |
| First soft opening | Sunday, September 20, 2026 (Sunday Building Market day) |
| Soft-opening period | From September 20, 2026, until the full opening in December, on an irregular basis |
| Full opening | December 2026 (planned) |
| Products | Coffee and light food; sweets and food from local creators (consignment); Gifural local produce (in-store) |
| Operator | YANAGASE TECH INC. |
| Website | https://cafe.yanagase.tech/ |
Company overview
| Company | YANAGASE TECH INC. |
|---|---|
| Address | Sunrise Yanagase, 2-17-3 Hinode-cho, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture |
| Founded | April 21, 2025 |
| Representatives | Kay Osawa and Tat Sakanoue (Co-Representative Directors) |
| Business | Community revitalization |
| URL | https://yanagase.tech/ |
Inquiries
YANAGASE TECH INC. — Osawa
Email: info@yanagase.tech