Fuji Royal (Fuji Kouki)
Production drums, Osaka, Japan.
History
The roots lie in coffee itself, not in machinery. In 1929, Ryuzo Hoshi founded the Nippon Brazilian Trading Company and Fuji Shokai; in 1930 the Brasileiro cafés opened in Osaka and Tokyo, where the Fuji brand was born. The machines came after the war: Fuji Coffee Machine Manufacturing in Tokyo in 1950, then in 1955 the creation in Osaka of Fuji Kouki, which registered the brand Fuji Royal to set itself apart from the Tokyo company.
The anchor product is not a roaster but a grinder, the R-440 of 1965. The date of the first roaster, for its part, is published nowhere. Next come the expansion to Taiwan from 1967, the closure of the Tokyo company in 2006, a training center and the all-hot-air Revolution roaster in 2010, the acquisition of two manufacturers in 2013, the Osaka factory in 2018. Twenty-eight employees in 2022: a small company that dominates a narrow segment, shop roasters of one to ten kilos.
What it makes
Direct-flame and semi-hot-air drums, from a quarter kilo to ten kilos, small electric ones, and made-to-measure installations of 15 to 400 kg with recovery of afterburner heat. Grinders, which remain the heart of the brand.
The models
Cube e (0.1 to 0.5 kg, electric), Coffee Discovery (250 g), R-005 Ittaro (0.5 kg, electric), R-101, R-103, R-105, R-110 (1 to 10 kg, direct flame and semi-hot-air), large made-to-measure roasters. The hot-air Revolution of 2010 no longer appears in the catalog consulted in 2026.
What you gain
The direct flame under a perforated drum responds quickly to the gas control and gives body: it is the principle that makes possible the Japanese style of long, deep batches, where caramelization is pushed far without scorching. Simple construction, repairable, and a longevity proven by the mass of used machines in service. Its position in Taiwan and Korea is established.
What you lose
Direct flame is the configuration most exposed to scorching and smoky taste if the air is poorly set or the load too small; it demands an operator and forgives less than a double-wall drum. These are manually operated machines, running against the current of automation: a coherent choice, not a lag. “The largest Japanese manufacturer” remains a formula of the company, not cross-checked.