what is ikkyu ?

Born in Paris, Stephane comes to Japan in 2005, after working for 5 years in the Silicon Valley. He meets his wife Minako in Fukuoka and launches with her an online shop dedicated to French products that they still operate as of today.

In 2009, along with his brother in France, Stephane sets up a webportal for antique dealers, proantic.com. Today, Proantic is the largest antique online shop in Europe. He starts working with Aldo and Joelle on the complete design overhaul of Proantic. Afterwards, they decide to pool their expertise to set up Ikkyu.

An adept of aikido and kyudo, Stephane has been drinking Japanese green tea every day for more than 10 years. Stephane is in charge of the technical development of the website and makes sure that each customer can enjoy the best online shopping experience.
Hobbies: Aikido, Kyudo, Photography and reading

Minako wears many hats: she is our precious interpretor, she makes sure that everything runs smoothly for Ikkyu in Japan and her advice is always wise. She was born in Amakusa, a string of islands off the coast of Kyushu and the flora and the culture of her region have no secrets for her.

An IT engineer who runs her own online shop (decofukuoka.com), Minako has also a delicate palate that has astounded many tea masters.
Hobbies: Practicing kyudo (Japanese archery) and aikido, she has the patience and will required for Ikkyu.

Italian and Swiss national, speaks French, Italian, English, German and little Japanese. I started drinking green tea back in Switzerland more than 12 years ago as a way to relax and enjoy the preparing time of a good matcha while listening old records.

Thanks to my deep interest and love in green tea, I was able to visit all the main production areas from Kyushu, talking and working directly with city and government officials and most importantly with the many producers of all the regions.

It took several years to build a network covering all of Kyushu regions but they are blessed by the richness of encounters, friendship and discoveries of the Green Tea universe.
Hobbies: Reading, travelling and... photography, the same shared passion with Stephane that brings you the pictures of IKKYU.

I used to be more of a coffee than a tea person. Take me to Italy and you will find me at the nearest café for my espresso shot!

However, in my daily life, things have changed when I discovered the pleasure of authentic Japanese green tea. It's not just about the amazing balance of delicate and complex fragrances, or the health benefits of green tea.

I have fallen in love with the steady yet powerful feeling of increased focus and constant energy that comes with each single cup. Whether I am working, chilling out with friends or practicing aikido, I can't do without green tea anymore!
Hobbies: Aikido, movies, reading and writing

I am maybe the latest addition to the IKKYU team, but I have been in Japan already for more than 17 years, including 14 in Kyushu. I've had many opportunities to participate to Japanese Tea ceremonies, through my love of kimono and nihonbuyo, the Japanese traditional dance.

On many occasions, I've had the chance to taste very high-quality teas as I lived in the most famous green tea areas of Kyushu. My French upbringing has helped with the tasting exercise, having a good palate, but I was not convinced by the traditional Japanese food-green tea combination of tastes… mainly iced-sugar delicacies.

I take great pleasure in deepening my knowledge of Japanese green teas, but above all in imagining a more modern approach to tasting that could broaden green tea's appeal overseas. Thanks to my friends, founders and associates of this magnificent company that is IKKYU, I have the opportunity to think about developing new ways for you to taste these very high-quality teas, with new, modern and surprising food associations.

Born in Fukuoka City, I am still living in this great city. I love travelling, yoga, Netflix and learning French.

Raised on Kyushu Island in a traditional family, green tea has always been part of my life. There was a time when I was very interested in coffee and tea, but in the end, I realized that green tea was the best for my palate and my daily life.

The real passion started when I tried to self-brew a very famous tea, Yame Gyokuro. It is such a delicious tea ... but for some reason I couldn’t brew it well.  It was the start of my quest for green tea best tasting and preparation. I eventually became a Japanese tea instructor.  Recently, I have been on different combination of tastes, marriage with food, dessert and sometimes alcohol, too. Tea is such a fun product to work with! It is a part of me, all day long.

The real boss of IKKYU, has been drinking green tea from his younger age and became our quality control supervisor in 2015.
Hobbies : eating late at night, play late at night, Meow late at night, wake up Stephane late at night, sleep all day.