The Youth

What The Youth does

The Youth Inc. (株式会社The Youth) is a Tokyo-based lifestyle brand founded in December 2019 by Representative Director Sato Gakufu that operates a portfolio of community-oriented hospitality venues paired with media and e-commerce channels. Its physical assets comprise Common, a café-restaurant and music bar lounge in Roppongi, Tokyo opened in May 2022; Echoes, a specialty coffee and Tohoku-cuisine local lounge in Sendai; and PART COFFEE ROASTER, a coffee roastery launched in Shizuoka in autumn 2024. The company has no proprietary technology platform; its differentiation rests on curated programming across food, art, music, and events, sustained content production through the CHAPTER interview series (50+ volumes since January 2022 profiling young creatives across EAT, LISTEN, EXPRESS, THINK, and MAKE fields), and an online creator-goods marketplace called The Youth Store (launched June 2020, spanning APPAREL, ART, HEALTH, BOOKS, and GENERAL GOODS categories).

The Youth generates revenue through three streams: food and beverage sales at operated venues, e-commerce sales via The Youth Store, and brand-building media production (CHAPTER, which functions primarily as a marketing engine rather than a direct revenue line). The go-to-market motion is community-led: long-form CHAPTER interviews and venue events drive top-of-funnel brand awareness among young creatives, supported by location-specific Instagram accounts and PR distribution via PR Times. The primary customer segment is young creatives in their 20s–30s seeking culturally authentic spaces, with a secondary segment of urban workers and adults in city centers. Pricing is mid-market at venues and varies by creator at the e-commerce store.

Headquartered at SOIL Nihonbashi 2F, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, the company is privately held with no disclosed external funding rounds, parent entities, or M&A activity. The Youth operates exclusively in Japan across the Kanto, Tohoku, and Chubu regions.

Name

The Youth

Legal name

株式会社The Youth

Website

https://the-youth.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Youth is a Tokyo-based lifestyle brand operating community-oriented hospitality venues (Common in Roppongi, Echoes in Sendai, PART COFFEE ROASTER in Shizuoka), an online creator-goods marketplace (The Youth Store), and a CHAPTER media platform, primarily serving young Japanese creatives in their 20s–30s.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Lifestyle Hospitality

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (7224)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Neighborhood Bars & Taverns (CRANACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Coffee Shops, Cafés & Beverage Programs (EDALADAG)

Keywords

• Lifestyle hospitality venues
• Cafe and bar operations
• Coffee roasting brand
• Youth media platform
• Online lifestyle store

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food & Beverage Operations: Revenue from operating owned café/restaurant/bar/lounge locations (Common, Echoes, PART COFFEE ROASTER) including coffee, food, and alcoholic beverage sales.
2. EC / Online Store: The Youth Store sells young creators' products across APPAREL, ART, HEALTH, BOOKS, and GENERAL GOODS categories, along with original collaborative merchandise.
3. Media & Content: CHAPTER is a media platform profiling young people's stories. While primarily a brand-building tool, it drives awareness and community to The Youth's spaces and store.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Youth operates physical hospitality venues (Common cafe & music bar in Roppongi, Echoes local lounge in Sendai, and PART COFFEE ROASTER in Shizuoka) that serve specialty coffee, food, alcoholic beverages, and act as community spaces for events. The company also runs The Youth Store, an online EC platform where young creators list original merchandise across APPAREL, ART, HEALTH, BOOKS, and GENERAL GOODS categories, plus an editorial media series called CHAPTER profiling young creatives.

Product overview

The Youth is a lifestyle brand and media platform operating across food, art, music, design, events, and hospitality. The portfolio includes physical venues (Common cafe & music bar in Tokyo, Echoes local lounge in Sendai, PART COFFEE ROASTER in Shizuoka), an online EC marketplace (The Youth Store), and a media platform (CHAPTER) profiling young creators. The venues serve as community spaces where youth and adults, cultures and values intersect through food, music, and art experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PART COFFEE ROASTER: Coffee roaster location operated by The Youth, located in Shizuoka.
• Common
• Echoes

Products and services

• Common A cafe restaurant and music bar lounge located in Roppongi, Tokyo. Offers specialty coffee by day and transforms into a music bar at night, serving dishes and craft cocktails. A community space where food, music, and art intersect.
• Echoes A local lounge in Sendai, Miyagi that transforms throughout the day. Features specialty coffee brewed by baristas and cuisine using Tohoku regional ingredients, wine, and a relaxed atmosphere for gathering and dialogue.
• PART COFFEE ROASTER A coffee roasting brand established in Shizuoka City in autumn 2024. The name PART means 'a part' or 'essential element', with the aspiration to become part of the town, scenery, and daily life of the community.
• The Youth Store An online EC platform launched June 15, 2020, featuring young creators' original goods and The Youth's original collaborative merchandise across APPAREL, ART, HEALTH, BOOKS, and GENERAL GOODS categories, combined with editorial brand stories and artist profiles.
• CHAPTER Media Series A long-form editorial media platform profiling young people aged 20-30 who are actively creating their own paths. Features interviews across five fields (EAT, LISTEN, EXPRESS, THINK, MAKE) and documents individual stories to promote diverse values and ways of living. Over 55 volumes published since January 2022.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kant.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2022Kant. is the real estate/building operator within which Common operates at 1F of their Roppongi location. The Youth's Common is co-located with Kant. as an integrated hospitality concept — '都市に生きる人々がすこやかに集い、働くための場所' (a place for urban people to gather and work healthily).
• The Youth Store Creators / ArtistsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorYoung creators (BUY ME FOOD, DELIFE, Lee Izumida, Ryohei Obama, SUGI, Verseau and others) list their original goods and The Youth collaborative merchandise on The Youth Store EC platform.
• PR TimesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPR Times was used to distribute the official release announcement for Common's opening in March 2022.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ONIBUS COFFEE: Multi-location Japanese specialty coffee roaster with cafés across Tokyo and a community-forward brand identity. Operates a parallel model of coffee-shop-as-cultural-space and shares The Youth's emphasis on neighborhood-rooted, design-driven hospitality.
• % Arabica: Kyoto-founded specialty coffee and lifestyle brand with a global network of architecturally distinctive cafés. Comparable to The Youth as a Japan-originated café brand whose identity is inseparable from its physical design language and curated customer experience.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: Specialty coffee lifestyle brand with a significant Japan retail footprint. Closely matches The Youth's positioning of third-wave coffee as a curated, design-led lifestyle experience with multiple venue formats.
• Glitch Coffee & Roasters: Tokyo-based specialty coffee roaster operating multiple cafés and a roastery. Comparable for its combination of a Tokyo venue network, in-house roasting operations (similar to PART COFFEE ROASTER), and brand-led content.
• Bear Pond Espresso: Tokyo specialty coffee operator with multiple locations and a strong cult brand identity. Comparable for its small-batch, design-led Japanese café concept layered onto a coffee-first menu.
• Streamer Coffee Company: Japanese specialty coffee brand with Tokyo locations and overseas expansion. Comparable to The Youth as a Japan-rooted specialty café brand that has expanded from a single high-concept venue to multiple locations.
• Trunk (Hotel): Tokyo lifestyle hospitality brand with multiple venues combining F&B, music, art, and retail programming. Closely parallels The Youth's integration of food, art, music, and curated cultural programming into a single lifestyle brand.

Emerging players

• Commune: US-based operator of community and member spaces that combine food, work, and programming. Compares to The Youth for its thesis that hospitality venues should function as cultural community hubs for young creatives and urban professionals.
• Verdy: Japanese artist and streetwear/lifestyle brand whose cultural footprint targets the same youth-creative demographic as The Youth. Comparable as a homegrown Japanese brand that fuses youth culture, content, and physical touchpoints into a coherent youth-identity platform.

Broad incumbents

• BEAMS: Established Japanese lifestyle retailer that operates cafés and integrates editorial/content with retail across a multi-channel brand. Comparable to The Youth's stated ambition of unifying F&B venues, e-commerce, and a media brand under one lifestyle identity, although at vastly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Youth