●Tell me about your childhood.
I was born in Fukuoka, Japan. I was really into baseball since I was a little boy, although I didn’t start playing seriously until I was in the second year of elementary school.

●What made you start playing baseball?
There was a prestigious sports school called Higashi-Fukuoka High School and the man who lived across the street from me was the coach of that high school’s baseball team. He didn’t have any children, so he trained me to play baseball like I was his son! The school has produced many professional baseball players, so from a young age, I had famous players play catch with me; I even got a hug from Mr. Sadaharu Oh!

●That’s an amazing start to your baseball career! How long did you play for?
Up until I graduated from high school. We moved to Chiba when I was in elementary school, so I joined the youth baseball team and continued to play baseball. Even though I was planning to quit baseball in high school, I was scouted from various high schools. I turned them all down, but the manager of a club in Tochigi insisted that I keep playing, so I decided to continue. I had no knowledge of what Tochigi was like. On the way there, I fell asleep and woke up in the mountains! Then my dormitory life began. I didn’t really want to do it, but I spent many days working hard, immersed in baseball.

●It seems like the start of an illustrious baseball career, but why didn’t you get into it?
I felt that I had done all I could with baseball in junior high school. I was the type of person who found hierarchical relationships troublesome, so I lost interest in sports. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t have tried individual sports, rather than being involved in a team sport.

●What did you decide to do after graduating from high school?
I didn’t know what to do because all I knew was baseball. And I didn’t feel like going to college or university. But at the time, I was approached by someone working for an entertainment agency and so I started working as an actor and model.

●Did you get scouted?
Yes, I was scouted when I was walking down Omotesando. I was scouted by so many people, that if I just walked around for a day I would end up with a bunch of business cards from these scouts. I wasn’t really interested in the entertainment industry, but as I started getting work as a cut model for hairdressers and such, I started to become a little more interested. I went with the flow and became affiliated with an agency and began my entertainment career.

●Did you practice acting or attend any auditions?
There was a lot of dancing, voice training, acting lessons, and other things going on every day. I also had auditions where I was told, “go to this place tomorrow and at this time”. I even had an audition for the series, ‘Kamen Rider’.

●It’s the royal route to becoming a popular actor!
That’s right. I got as far as the audition, but I wasn’t too keen on it, and when I told the agency I didn’t want to go, they got angry. Eventually, I quit that agency and moved to another one, and continued my entertainment career for a while, appearing in commercials, dramas, stage performances, and movies. I think I did this for about five or six years, from the age of 18 to 23.

●Sounds like you were on a path to show business, why did you decide to stop?
I probably should have gone through with it, but in the end, I guess didn’t find it that interesting. There were times when I thought acting was fun, but I couldn’t get into it until I dedicated my life to it. I was lucky to be in that position and was perhaps a little spoiled too.

●What did you do after you quit the agency?
For a long time, I had a vague longing for New York so I decided to go. I had been there before on a vacation and thought it was fun, but I didn’t really want to stay there long-term. After about six months, I returned to Japan and started working part-time. At that time, one of my friends from Canada was going back home to get married and asked me if I wanted to come and visit. So, I decided to go to Toronto. I asked him if there was any work going there, and he introduced me to some people at the local hotel and I got a job.

●That’s how you ended up working in a hotel in Toronto?
That’s right. I went to meet the general manager and told him that I wanted to work there, even though I didn’t speak any English. He agreed to let me work as a bartender. I had some experience serving drinks, so I gave it a try, and they liked me so much that they granted me a visa. I ended up working at that hotel in Toronto for about two years.

●How was living in Toronto?
I didn’t understand English but I tried hard. It wasn’t a fancy bar, more like a local pub where local people came by every day. Before I realized it, two years had passed since I started working there. Tipping was my main source of income, so I worked hard to get a position that allowed me to be in charge of many covers, and I was able to earn hundreds of thousands of yen a month just in tips alone. I was like a tip-millionaire!

●What did you learn while working at the hotel?
I feel like I have learned to be kinder to people. Even though I couldn’t speak English, the people over there were kind and accepting. They would ask me lots of questions about Japanese food, or places in Japan and we would use Google Translate to communicate. They would be really interested and that made me appreciate people more.

●Why did you decide to leave Canada?
It was time to renew my visa, and the next one was for more than five years. Then I thought, “If I stay here for five years, I’ll be over 30 years old, and then what will happen to me? What am I going to do when I’m over 30?” I didn’t have the motivation to study English and look for another job, so I thought I would go back to Japan and get a job. So I came back and started working at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.

●After your experience in Canada, did you decide to pursue a career in the hotel industry?
I didn’t set out for a career in the industry, but when I was working in the entertainment industry in my early twenties, I received certification from Les Mills, a fitness company from New Zealand. So I began working as a part-time body combat instructor several times a week. I was also a certified personal trainer at the time, so I worked as a gym instructor at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo. I had talked about doing something on YouTube with a friend who worked in media, and since the hotel had good working conditions and salary, I wanted to save money. The fact that I could use my time flexibly was also a big factor since the working hours were very strict. That’s what drove me to work at the hotel.

●What did you do after that?
After working at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo for over a year, I was approached by a different hotel and decided to change jobs. It was before the hotel opened, and I had about six months to spare, so I decided to get a part-time job. At that time, one of my seniors at Mandarin Oriental Tokyo was working for K5 Hotel, preparing the hotel for opening. She asked me, “What are you doing now? Let’s work together!” She asked me if I would like to work at B because the hotel department was already fully staffed. And that’s when I was interviewed by Mr. Nishioka (*1). I was on my way home from work, so I was wearing a suit, and Mr. Nishioka, who is very casual, said to me, “You must be really into it, coming in a suit!”.

※1
Yoshitane Nishioka B Content Programming Director

●That’s why you started working at B?
Yes. About a week after I started working, Mr. Kim of Brooklyn Brewery Japan, who I’m working with now, or maybe it was Yoon who was an ambassador at the time, said, “Why don’t you work with us and also be an ambassador?”. At first, I said “No, I already have other plans…” But Mr. Matsui (*2) asked me again and in the end, I decided to continue as a full-time employee instead of a part-time worker.

※2
Akihiro Matsui, President, Media Surf Communications

●So now you’re the manager of B?
People may not know it, but I’m in charge of running the place! But Mr. Nishioka has been involved in this place since the beginning, and I think many people associate B with him. So I don’t think it’s necessary for me to create this place from scratch. For me, I think I should focus more on my job as an ambassador and spread Brooklyn Brewery through ambassador activities.

●What kind of ambassador activities do you do?
In the red room in B, we have beer seminars four to six times a month. We talk about beer pairings and the history of Brooklyn Brewery, and everyone gets to taste the beers and try them with food. That’s how we try to spread the word about beer.

●What was the deciding factor that made you want to continue working at B?
I think I made the choice to stay here because everyone at B seemed to be enjoying their work so much. I have a strong desire to live a happy life. I don’t think there are many people who actually enjoy and get to have fun at work. I think most people don’t want to work if they can help it, and if they have the money they want to be free. If I didn’t have to work, I wouldn’t want to either! Because of this mindset, I’ve always chosen jobs that have set hours and allow me to have a lot of free time. But B is totally different from the way I’ve always wanted to work. I’m the first to arrive and the last to leave. We are now closed due to Covid, but in the beginning, we often worked until the last train. The staff I work with will invite their friends and acquaintances over and introduce them to me. They work in a way that their personal life and work life are intertwined. I thought that was great. Although, I’m still yet to have many friends over myself! I think that this kind of working style is one of the strengths of the hospitality industry, and seeing people working like this would make me want to work in the industry again someday.

●You’ve always maintained a very separate work life and private life, but did you feel comfortable working at B where the two were more intermixed?
I thought I could be comfortable, but I can’t say that I’m comfortable (laughs). I am very busy and I have to do a lot of things in a very short time.

●What do the people around you say about you?
People often say I look outdoorsy, but I’m very much an indoor person. I’m the kind of person who spends all my time lounging around watching manga and anime! I like to ride cars and motorbikes, and I no longer play baseball at all. A friend of mine with who I shared a door room with when we played on the same high school baseball team told me, “We were together 365 days a year for three years, but I still don’t know anything about you.” I didn’t like the fact that we were in a baseball club and did everything together, so I stepped back from that circle. Even now, I rarely go out drinking with the B staff, but just before the closure due to Corona, we had a launch party and drank together.

●It’s like belonging to a group, but still being the lone wolf! What do you plan to do in the future?
I don’t think about it too much. My life has turned out the way it’s supposed to, so I think, “Everything will turn out okay”. I just want to continue to make lots of fun things.