Tokyo Weekender - February 2016

The Spirit of
a Sportsman
by Matthew Hernon
A style icon who was once Asia’s most famous
footballer, Hidetoshi Nakata now has his heart
set on revolutionizing the sake industry
Like many youngsters who
grew up in Japan during
the 80s, Hidetoshi Nakata
dreamed of emulating manga
hero “Captain Tsubasa”
during his youth. He dedicated his life
to football and by the age of 21, after
some stand-out performances at the
1998 World Cup, became the country’s
most sought-after player. Eight years
later, following spells in Italy and England,
he stunned fans by calling time
on his career. He had yet to reach 30.
“Football was like a hobby,” he tells
Weekender from his immaculately
kept office in Roppongi. “I didn’t see
it as a job. I played because I had a
real passion for the sport. Once that
started to disappear I knew I had to
look for something else. I didn’t have
any business plan or anything. I just
decided to see the world, visiting more
than 100 countries. During my travels
people would often ask me first about
football, then Japan. It was the country
I grew up in, but I couldn’t answer well
because I didn’t truly know enough
about the place.”
He decided to embark on a journey
that would take him to all 47 prefectures
of Japan, starting in Okinawa
before finishing at the northernmost
point in Hokkaido at the back end of
last year. Along the way he met numerous
craftsmen, farmers and sake
makers, who seemed to make quite an
impression on him.
“I began to realize the struggle
these people faced, but also the enormous
value of what they were providing,”
says the 39 year old. “While there
is a big demand for Japanese goods
abroad, marketing them has proved
difficult. That’s where I wanted to help.
Of course I can’t make sake or anything,
but what I could do was act like a bridge
between producers and international
consumers around the world.”
During the 2012 Olympics he
opened a pop-up bar outside London
County Hall that featured 26 different
kinds of sake. A year later
he launched his own brand of the
drink simply named “N.” A refined
beverage produced by the famed
14th generation Yamagata brewery
Takagi Shuzo, it requires a lot of time
and care to create. Boasting a stylish
bottle designed by Japanese firm Nendo,
it’s only sold abroad and is very
exclusive: fewer than 2,500 bottles
have been produced in the past three
years.
“It’s an elegant drink that initially
tastes quite sweet, but goes down like
water,” Nakata says. “We hope people
around the world will like it and then
want to try other types of sake. This
isn’t about trying to sell big amounts
or making a huge profit. Our goal is
to try and open up the market. With
wine the quality of the product varies
greatly and subsequently you have a
wide range of prices. That isn’t really
the case with sake as most items tend
to be cheap, which makes it more
difficult for new brands to enter into
the competition. We want to show
people you can make premium sake
and be successful. It’s a niche market,
but people are beginning to realize
there are opportunities out there and
consequently you’re seeing more sake
makers selling high-end goods.”
FEBRUARY 2016 www.tokyoweekender.com
Photos by Junichi Takahashi