Starbucks Coffee Japan has appointed Hisae Morii as its new CEO from 1 April 2025.
She will succeed Takafumi Minaguchi, who has held the position since September 2014.
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Morii, currently serving as chief retail and marketing officer (CRMO), will be the first woman to lead the company’s licensed business in Japan.
Departing CEO Mizuguchi said: “With the milestone of 2,000 stores now in sight, and the 30th anniversary of our founding coming up next year, we have decided to entrust the next CEO to CRMO Morii, with the belief that passing the baton to a next-generation leader who can feel the current times will evolve Starbucks into an even more attractive brand in Japan.”
Morii joined Starbucks Coffee Japan as chief marketing officer in August 2018 and was promoted to her current role in October 2023.
Morii stated: “I deeply respect the journey that CEO Mizuguchi and past Starbucks partners have made, and I hope to inherit their thoughts and build a new future together with our customers, partners and the local community.”
Before joining the coffee chain, she held senior marketing roles at Unilever, including brand manager, vice-president of marketing for its Thai business, and marketing director of the consumer packaged goods giant’s Japan division.
Starbucks opened its first store in Japan in August 1996, marking its first expansion outside North America.
Japan is the company’s fourth-largest market by store count, following the US, China and South Korea.
In February 2025, Starbucks Coffee Japan reached 2,000 stores with a new location in Tokyo’s Ginza district.
Starbucks Coffee Japan plans to open 100 new stores annually and is beginning a store renovation programme in 2025, aimed at ensuring its sites are “deeply rooted in the communities they serve”.
The latest development comes after Starbucks announced plans to lay off 1,100 corporate and administrative employees as part of its re-organisation strategy.
