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「酒蔵愛」

(English follows Japanese)

   私は酒蔵巡りが大好きです。日本全国で酒蔵は1,000件以上あります。私はそのうち250件に足を運びました。 お酒そのものが好きなのはもちろんのこと、酒造りの風景や、酒蔵の周辺にある神社、 それから日本酒とともに培われた文化・芸能に至るまで、日本酒に関するあらゆるものへの興味は尽きることがありません。
   その興味を抑えきれず、日本酒に関わる仕事を一生涯続ける覚悟を決めて、とうとう長年勤めていた電機メーカーを退職し、 2018年1月には酒蔵支援に特化した会社「サケ・ラバーズ株式会社」を設立しました。
  
   最近は海外での日本酒ブームについてよく見聞きしますが、残念なことに酒蔵の全体数は減少の一途をたどっています。 資金難で事業の継続を断念する酒蔵をなくしたい、そのためにも販路開拓でお役に立ちたい。酒蔵にとっての理解者でありたい……。
   会社設立に至った背景には、このような強い思いがありました。 好きで好きで仕方のない日本の酒蔵の実情を訴え、元気な姿で後世に残していくことに貢献したいというこの思いを、一人でも多くの方と分かち合いたい一心です。
   なかなか市場に出回ることのない、各地の希少な日本酒を取り扱って輸出につないだり、様々な活動をしています。国酒である日本酒を共に盛り上げていきましょう。

サケ・ラバーズ株式会社

代表取締役
唎酒師 今西 由紀

Let's Love Sake Breweries

I love visiting sake breweries. People say there are more than 1,000 sake breweries in Japan. I have visited 250 out of 1,000 so far. Not just because I like sake itself, I like the scenery of sake making, shrines in the surroundings of the sake breweries, and culture and arts which were cultivated with sake. My interest towards everything related to sake never seemed to fade and I could not fully suppress that interest, and decided to dedicate my life to work on sake-related business activities.

In January 2018, I eventually quit my job at an electric machinery maker where I had worked for years, and I started my own company, Sake Lovers Inc, to support small craft sake breweries.

Recently I've often heard something about the overseas booming of Japanese sake, but unfortunately the total number of breweries has been decreasing steadily. It makes me feel sad that sake breweries go bankrupt and discontinue their business one after another due to financial difficulties.

We also want to support sake breweries by cultivating sales channels. I want to be a person who understands the “sentiment” that small sake breweries have in common. There has been much effort and emotion behind the establishment of Sake Lovers.

Let me contribute to Japanese sake breweries that I love so much, so they can live through future generations with good condition. Sharing this feeling with as many people as possible would be my great pleasure.

We will bring sakes that are not available commercially though various activities and export. Let's boost the popularity of Nihonshu, the Japanese national drink together.

 

Yuki Imanishi

CEO of Sake Lovers Inc.
Sake Sommelier


 

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kyoko

取締役 長野京子 (海外渉外 広報 担当)

Kyoko Nagano (In charge of overseas affairs, Public Relations)

海外駐在歴17年4ヵ国。日本の伝統文化専門家やアーチストを応援するマイパル株式会社の代表取締役と日本の発酵食文化を広げる発酵牧場株式会社の取締役もつとめる。今西とともに國酒である日本酒の普及活動に従事。主に外国人に向けて情報発信を行っている。外国人女性が多く参加しているFor Empowering Women In Japan(FEW JAPAN)のボランティア役員でもある。

I am working together with Yuki Imanishi here at Sake Lovers to support and expand the knowledge and sales of Nihonshu (sake), which is Japan's national drink. I am mostly in charge of creating and managing English content.

Some fun facts about me:  I have lived 17 years abroad - in four countries so far (South Korea, Saudi Arabia, USA and Thailand). I am also the founder and CEO of mypal.jp, where I support cultural teachers and artists in Japan and the director of Hakko Farm Inc where we introduce about Japan's fermentation culture in Japan. I am also volunteering as a board member of FEW Japan!

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Mariko Schmitz
シュミッツ、雅璃子
Head of Sakelovers DE - our European subsidiary
https://www.sakelovers.de/ (launching soon)
Sake Sommelier
Mariko, being half-German and half-Japanese (ハーフ) was born in Japan and grew up in Hamburg, Germany. Since 2017, under the name "Toshiko Arts" she has specialized in culinary & cultural experiences and F&B consultation and as a certified Sake Sommeliére she hosts events, seminars, workshops, trainings, online tastings and food pairings including her own cooking and advises the restaurant and catering industry on how to bring the fascination of sake to the German public.
Together with Sake lovers Inc. she will provide inspiration for the creation of beautiful things powered by the authentic Japanese culinary heritage and considers herself a genuine sakelover and advocate of this inherent cultural beverage of Japan.

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More about SAKE LOVERS INC and what we do

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZWi99OAeujfDw27qKijPkMT119JdSRpdXK9S_0dTh54/edit?usp=sharing