In this new series for Sake Today, we focus on non-Japanese in Japan who have established themselves in the sake industry. May their stories have the power to inspire!
Six or seven years ago, Brian Hutto would have been quite surprised to hear from a time-traveler that he would be running a popular sake bar in Yokohama. The American expat first visited Japan in 2010 and returned a few times after that as he began to admire the culture, but in his own words, “I hadn’t really considered moving here.” How did Hutto end up securing what many sake lovers might consider a dream job? Call it an accident. Call it fate. Either way, Hutto is now one of a handful of non-Japanese in Japan running a promising sake retail operation. His is called Craft Sake Shoten.
With his warm, generous personality, Hutto seems well-suited to his role as host. He’s in his late-fifties, but seems younger. He’s relatively tall and lean, and seemingly fit. Maybe his youthfulness owes to the positive energy that accrues when you dive into something new with passion. Hutto admits that his abrupt career shift was set in motion by a growing sense of needing something new.
In his previous life Hutto worked in sales and marketing in the hotel industry, specifically for Nikko Hotel–and that was the reason for his first Japan trip. But he wondered: was this what he really wanted to do for the rest of his life?
“I wanted to make a change in my life. The clock was ticking, my health was good, and I had an adventurous spirit. I realized if I wanted to make a move, I’d have to do it soon.”
His belated interest in Japan led to him researching the possibilities of a new life there. Millions want to live and work in Japan, but there are some daunting hurdles.
“I didn’t know anybody in Japan,” says Hutto. “I didn’t speak the language, so what could I do besides be an English teacher?”
The English-teaching route is well-known and popular, but it’s usually a grind with low pay and long hours, not to mention organizations that often view you as a disposable commodity. Instead, Hutto focused on his own interests and resources. He liked wine and, being based in San Francisco, had access to Wine Country, about an hour’s drive to the north. He hit upon the idea of importing wine to Japan and did what any resourceful entrepreneur would do: he turned to the internet. Fate would now step up and intervene.
He soon found a consultant–Yosuke Nakano–who could help would-be-investors launch a business in Japan, including alcohol import operations. Getting an import license and/or setting up a business without such a consultant (or legal administrator) is impossible. Nakano, however, additionally had a side hustle as a sake exporter. The pieces were moving into place.
In 2015, Nakano helped Hutto go through the initial paperwork for setting up a business. Hutto finally flew to Japan in 2016.
“I thought that I could get here and make things happen faster,” laughs Hutto, unaware at the time that Japan is not exactly known for its bureaucratic speed. “It wasn’t until about five or six months here that I had a business license and was really up and running.”
One of the conditions for getting an investor visa is having a physical office. There are many corporations that supply incubator offices, and there are also the more traditional real estate rental agencies. This crucial first step–selecting office space–is where a lot of fledgling business operators make their first mistake.
“I considered a small space with a mailbox,” says Hutto. “Then I thought, well if I’m going to pay rent, I should get a space that’s versatile. I’m importing wine so I need a place to host people to sample it–a tasting room office! I ended up signing a lease on the space I have now.”
His main problem was that the process of obtaining his visa was sloth-like. He ended up paying months of rent (and not producing any income) while waiting.
The space, however, is an intriguing one. It’s on the second floor of a building overlooking a big intersection just a few blocks from Yokohama Station, a major hub of the region with significant foot traffic radiating out for blocks. The stairway leading up to it is steep–not ideal for a sake joint–and the space itself is long and narrow. It’s the kind of funky space that wouldn’t interest most businesses, and hence doesn’t command astronomical prices, making it ideal for somebody like Hutto, who was just looking for a casual space to serve an intimate group. Nakano, meanwhile, had already set Hutto on a new trajectory–and from the day he arrived, no less.
“He asked me if I had any plans that night. I was jet-lagged and planning on going back to my lodgings when asked me to come along for dinner.”
His consultant was bringing a guest he called his sake sensei. It turned out to be John Gauntner (co-founder of Sake Today). Hutto didn’t know who he was at the time. In fact, Hutto hadn’t developed so much of a taste for sake yet. In San Francisco, he had visited the pioneering sake bottle shop True Sake a few times, but like many consumers in the U.S., he found it hard to drop $50 (or more) on something whose label he couldn’t read and whose flavor he wasn’t even sure he would like. To be fair, True Sake does a fantastic job of guiding its customers, but still, that price hurdle is very high. That night with Gauntner and Nakano certainly broadened his horizons when it came to sake, but Hutto hadn’t yet shifted his business approach from his original wine importing plan. The pieces were still sliding into place.
While Hutto waited out his visa approval, he tagged along with his consultant to other events. He met an industry colleague from Niigata who produces labels for sake producers. He went to tastings and expanded his palate. He visited breweries, refusing to let his lack of Japanese deter him. All the while, he was slowly realizing that the wine market in Japan was saturated. Not far from him in Yokohama, in fact, there was already an established, popular California wine importer and tasting room.
“As far as an epiphany moment, I can’t really pinpoint it,” says Hutto. “However, my contact from Niigata suggested the idea of a sake bar and introduced me to Meishu Center in Hamamatsuchô (Tokyo). He thought this would be an easy way to get started.”
Like so much in Japan, connections led to connections and a business opportunity was born. The Hamamatsuchô location of Meishu Center has since fallen victim to the slowdown caused by COVID, though a second location in Tokyo carries on. This popular sake tasting room caters primarily to Tokyo’s afterwork crowd with prices that are unbeatable. Since it functioned as a showroom of sorts, the owner obtained below-market prices from suppliers. The plan was for Hutto to open a branch in Yokohama that would take advantage of those discounts while exposing Yokohama’s cosmopolitan and international population to the sake brands. Hutto ran with it and finally opened in 2017. It was called Meishu Center Yokohama.
Prior to opening, he continued to visit sake breweries to learn more. He also put a sign out on the street announcing its imminent opening.
“As a part of the promotion I had my picture displayed on the sign. I’m not the type that likes to put my face out there, but Nakano suggested it. He thought it would be intriguing for Japanese customers.”
It was. On opening day the place was busy. Yokohama is not a bad spot for a retail operation, either. Beyond the aforementioned foot traffic and cosmopolitan population, it’s also a rather laid-back, friendly city (see our feature on Kanagawa prefecture in the last issue). It’s the kind of place where a foreigner like Brian running a sake shop might be a surprise, but not a shock and certainly not unwelcome. People would embrace the intrigue and novelty, and also be able to work through Hutto’s limited Japanese. Hutto notes that many came to practice their English in the beginning.
“Today, though, most of my customers are sake enthusiasts. There’s a community that’s developed, too.”
As Hutto’s sake knowledge deepened and his tastes became more discriminating, he found himself wanting to curate his own selections. Meishu Center in Tokyo had been supplying him. Though thankful for the opportunity they provided him, he says he would sometimes receive sake that didn’t align with his tastes–nor, we might guess, with those of his customers, either. He had set up his business independently from Meishu Center Tokyo, so going it alone wouldn’t present too much of a problem. Also, in Japan it’s not at all unusual for ‘apprentices’ to set out on their own after they find their footing. In August of 2020, Hutto renamed his tasting room Craft Sake Shoten and assumed the responsibility of selecting all his sake.
“I’m very happy I moved here. I thought I’d have to be near the port if I’m importing but that’s not the case at all. I could have lived in Tokyo! But I’m really glad I’m here. If I could do it all over again, Yokohama would be my first choice… I have everything I need right here in Yokohama.”
He certainly has plenty of customers, too, even if their numbers have fallen since the pandemic. Prior to COVID, he was looking for a larger space with a kitchen, but that will have to wait. Now he focuses on his core group of customers.
“These days customer numbers are a little off, but revenue is holding its own. People stay longer and drink more because it’s not as crowded.”
Once the pandemic lifts, Hutto will likely return to offering his “sake experiences” package, which are two-hour tasting sessions from 3pm to 5pm, before opening time.
“I also pared down the experience to four pages of sake information. It’s a good way to explore sake. I do the selecting and pouring. Each customer is a little different. There were usually groups–anywhere from two to twelve people.”
When we visit, we often ask Hutto for his recommendations and are never disappointed in the prices or the overall drinking experience, either. Hutto has clearly benefited from the luck of his connections, but his leap of faith also took self-initiative. The success of his business further proves that he has been the right person for the role. And his passion for sake, even if it’s recent, surely doesn’t hurt. People feel good about seeing others happy at their work. Perhaps they feel even better when it’s something that seems unlikely, something that has flourished against the odds because of its appealing novelty.
Editor’s note: Some quotes used in this article previously appeared in a column for the Yokohama Seasider Magazine, a partner publication. In our travel feature on Kanagawa in ST26, we briefly highlighted Craft Sake Shoten, and also introduced it in ST18 (“Yokohama Crawl”), albeit under its original name, Meishu Center Yokohama.
