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Vaughan Allison (born 1983) is a cafe owner, model, teacher, music promoter, and coffee personality based in Tokyo, Japan. He's best known for his work touring international artists throughout Japan, writing about coffee, modeling, and for co-founding Mia Mia cafe in Higashi Nagasaki.

Early life
Vaughan was born on February 11, 1983 at Saint Vincent's Private Hospital in Melbourne, where he grew up with his parents and brother, musician Martin Martini.

He first came to Japan in 2001, where he studied an accelerated program at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration and graduated in 2003 with a near-perfect GPA.

Career
In 2003 Vaughan returned to Australia and started his own music management company Red Balloon Artist Management. Through Red Balloon Artist Management, worked with his brother's outfit Martin Martini and The Bone Palace Orchestra, which saw the team go on three Australian national tours, make appearances at the Corner Hotel, National Gallery of Victoria, Sydney Opera House, and perform an overseas season at London's Soho Theatre in 2008. In 2009 he returned to Japan and started working in the music industry, modeling and teaching at Tokyo fashion college Bunka.

Music industry
His work as a promoter and booker has seen him tour various Australian artists throughout Japan, including The Lagerphones, Grand Salvo, The Twoks, The Harpoons, Sunnyside (who played Fuji Rock 2019), Owl Eyes, and Oliver Mann.

He has also worked as an on-site, Japan-based fixer for artists such as Hiatus Kaiyote and Blue King Brown, among others, and booked a debut Australia tour for Kyoto outfit Zahatorte in 2019. The tour with Zahatorte included shows at Northcote Social Club and Mona Museum and appearances on live radio ABC Hobart, SBS Sydney, and 3CR Melbourne.

Coffee industry
Vaughan has long been an enthusiastic and leading member of Tokyo's coffee community. He's worked as a commentator, writer, event organizer, emcee, and judge for competitions showcasing Japan's coffee community.

As a writer and curator, he's promoted various coffee shops and baristas through multiple media channels, including Casa BRUTUS Magazine and online media like lifestyle web magazine Harumari and Signpost, where he published pieces on KOFFEE MAMEYA and Chatei Hatou. Vaughan was also invited to curate and write the Tokyo City Profile for specialty coffee magazine Standart.

Working with Good Coffee online magazine, he built the @goodcoffeeme Instagram's following from 100 to 50,000 followers in three years. He was also one of the Tokyo Coffee Festival's key members - producing the 2018 spring festival, which was one of the most attended (40,000 attendees over two days) Tokyo Coffee Festivals in history.

In 2016, Vaughan released a limited edition book titled 29 cafes 23 photographers 5 baristas 1 illustrator and a lot of coffee with Vaughan.

He worked with Miki Suzuki as her English coach during her time at the World Barista Championship in Seoul in 2017, in which she placed 2nd in the world. He's also been the emcee at the Latte Art Championships in 2018 and 2019, as well as a judge at other competitions like the Tokyo Matcha Latte Art Competition in 2019.

Modeling
As a model, Vaughan has worked with some of the industry's biggest names, including Kishin Shinoyama, Tomoki Sukezane, and Takashi Kumagai. He's made regular appearances in magazines such as UOMO, Houyhnhnm, Brutus, Popeye, Tokyo Calendar, and Fukuoka's Bond Magazine. He has done catalog work for Beams, United Arrows, Urban Research, Phlannel and Espionage (Korea), promotional work for Zoff, and mobile phone company au. Since 2013 he's worked as a lecturer at Bunka Fashion College.

Mia Mia Cafe
In 2020, Vaughan opened cafe Mia Mia with his wife, architect Rie Allison. Mia Mia is located in the Tokyo neighborhood of Higashi Nagasaki, Toshima, on Seibu Ikebukuro Line. The cafe specializes in local and Australian import coffee and wine.

Category:Living people Category:Australian male models