Our founder, Shinobu Kato, had a problem when he moved to the US from Tokyo...
He loved cooking, entertaining friends, and hosting parties, but was never able to find a good sake to serve for these various occasions. After frequenting many local breweries and wineries, Shinobu saw how Americans would come to try, enjoy, and learn about beer and wine, and leave feeling satisfied. That is when the thought crossed his mind: What if there was a sake experience like that here in the US where people could come try sake, learn about the different types, and buy the perfect sake for any occasion?
So, Shinobu decided to build a tiny kitchen brewery and began steaming rice. After weeks of brewing and fermenting, his first batch of eight hazy, unfiltered bottles of sake was ready. He organized a tasting party with a few of his friends, and to his delight everyone had the same reaction: they loved it. This response inspired Shinobu to keep brewing sake for more friends to try.
After several more successful batches, one of his friends, who had never purchased any sake before, asked to buy a bottle of “Shinobu’s Sake.” This would not be the last time he heard this request.
With the solution in the bottle, Shinobu started Kato Sake Works so that everyone could learn to love sake as he did years ago in Tokyo.
“Thirty years ago I bought a framed black and white picture of the Brooklyn Bridge in Shibuya, a hip neighborhood in Tokyo. Back then I was a teenager crazy about hard rock music and American fashion. I had never seriously thought about moving abroad, but I knew I wanted to travel and see the world, especially the US. Although I did not pick this picture for any specific reason, there was something I loved about the photo. That same picture had been on the wall of my bedroom for years until I finally decided to leave Japan. After thirty years and many adventures around the world, I ended up moving to Brooklyn. Now, as I look back at my youth and where I am today, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge stands as a connection between my past and my future. I did not think of the picture as a guide—maybe it was just a big coincidence—but every time I see that bridge I remember my young self, my dreams of seeing the world, and how I ended up in the place where it all started.”
— Shinobu Kato, March 2019
Shinobu was born and raised in Koenji, a small but culturally rich and dynamic neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan. It was there that he tried sake for the first time. Throughout the years, Shinobu expanded his palate and experienced plenty more sake varieties, both good and bad, especially during his college days and thereafter, when he worked for the fast-growing internet venture, Softbank. It was while working crazy hours, even by Japanese standards, that Shinobu learned the joy that a perfectly selected sake can bring to a busy day.
In 2004, Shinobu came to the US to attend the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. This was where he learned about business and, outside of the classroom, the culture around American drinking. Upon graduation, he took a position at Nissan in Nashville, Tennessee, where he led a team of software engineers to deliver global projects. At a big company with a sizable IT budget, Shinobu enjoyed implementing solutions to large business problems, including an exciting two-year assignment to India.
Eventually, overtaken by his passion for sake, Shinobu left the corporate world and moved to NYC to start a sake brewery in 2016. He currently lives in the Bushwick community in Brooklyn, which reminds him of his hometown, Koenji. His wife, Ayako, lives in Seattle but visits whenever it rains there. (Update: Ayako finally moved to NYC in December 2019, after Shinobu found her a great Seahawks bar near the brewery.) When he’s not brewing sake, Shinobu enjoys cooking, DIY’ing, and writing code. Backpacking and road trips are his favorite ways to relax between making batches of sake.
The TEAM
Shinobu Kato
President
/ Head Brewer
JOANIE PAYNE
Lead Brewer
James Ordway
Bartender
& Social Media
Delaney Benstead
Bartender
Maia Watanabe
Bartender
Sarah Fineman
Bartender
Krissa Saldana
Bartender
Maxine Bell
Assistant Brewer
Ryan Bugden &
Michelle Ando
BRAND Designers
CAREERS
We are a small start-up and extra hands are always appreciated. If you’re interested in making, selling, talking about, or just drinking sake, please check our Instagram highlight for the current job openings.
