Tomomi Duquette is involved in a wide range of activities to promote the appeal of sake both domestically and internationally, including producing promotional videos for sake breweries, producing the sake festival "Niigata Brewing Summit," and running the international exchange project "Niigata Sake Lovers" through sake culture. In 2024, she was also selected as the inaugural Mrs. SAKE Grand Prix winner.
Duquette's latest venture is the launch of a sake brewery called "Snow and Satoyama Brewery." This winter, he will begin brewing sake in Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, surrounded by deep snow and the lush natural beauty of Satoyama, and he will also take on the challenge of sake brewery tourism.

I spoke to this person

Niigata Sake Lovers Representative and Founder, Tomomi Duquette

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Originally from Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, she holds qualifications including sake sommelier, international sake studies instructor, TESOL certified English instructor, WEST Level 3, and nutritionist. In 2024, she won the first Mrs. SAKE Grand Prix, and in 2025, she opened her first sake brewery, Yuki to Satoyama Brewery. (On October 28th, she joined the Niigata Prefecture Sake Brewers Association, bringing the number of sake breweries in Niigata Prefecture to 90, the most in the country.)

From studying sake to owning a sake brewery

--You originally worked overseas, so why did you start working in the sake industry in Niigata?
Tomomi Duquette (omitted)
"In my early twenties, I worked in Canada as an agent for a French luxury brand at a five-star hotel that symbolizes the city. There, I realized that even if it's a world-famous brand, you can sell it if it's a product that you love, and I learned the importance of passion. In my late twenties, I worked in management roles, including translation and interpretation, for green energy companies in the Netherlands, the UK, and China. After that, when I returned to Japan in my thirties and thought about what to do with my career, I decided to start a business doing what I loved the most, and that was Niigata's sake culture, which was an essential part of hospitality during my time as an interpreter.

First, I went around with my business card at the Niigata Sake no Jin (*1) and talked to people at sake breweries, and then went on tours of sake breweries with foreign friends living in Niigata. However, even though I could speak English and tried to act as an interpreter, I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about sake or its terminology. From there, I started studying about sake with foreigners who wanted to "get to know the real Japan." Then, one sake brewery approached me and said, "If you're studying so hard, why don't you try making sake yourself?"
(※1) Niigata Sake no Jin: Japan's largest sake festival, held once a year in Niigata Prefecture.

--So your studies have expanded into the sake brewing experience.

"That's right. Then in 2013, I started the Niigata Sake Lovers project, which involves planting rice in the spring, harvesting in the fall, and brewing sake in the winter, working with friends throughout the year from rice cultivation to commercialization (of sake).

Niigata Sake Lovers in action

Niigata Sake Lovers has been working with a different sake brewery every year, experiencing each brewing method, but with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it became risky for outsiders to enter sake breweries.
But I still wanted to continue this project, and when I thought about it, I thought, "Wouldn't it be good to have our own sake brewery?" So, we decided to launch the "Snow and Satoyama Brewery" as a sublimation of our previous activities.
Niigata has a lot of delicious sake, but the problem is that it is not well known, with a few exceptions. We hope that by first letting people know about the fun and excitement of sake brewing here, it will become an opportunity to spread interest to other sake breweries."

The two faces of Yuki to Satoyama Brewery

--The reason behind the launch of Yuki to Satoyama Brewery was to allow a variety of people to experience the sake brewing process.

"However, since we had a liquor license, we also wanted to create a quality product for ourselves, so we decided to use the second floor of the building for experiences and the first floor for producing sake as a brewery.
On the first floor, a team of members with over 30 years of experience in sake brewing will begin brewing different types of sake, both domestic and international, starting this winter.
We also want to prioritize sustainability, so we grow our own rice without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and to make up for any shortfall, we use pesticide-free or reduced-pesticide rice from trusted farmers in Tokamachi, and we plan to use 100% renewable energy for our electricity."

-What kind of "experience" are you planning on providing on the second floor?

"When I was living in Canada, I had the opportunity to make my own wine at a winery, and it was a really great experience. Based on that experience, I want to create a system where participants can make their own sake by choosing the type and amount of koji, the type of yeast, the balance of sweetness and dryness, and so on.
In the future, it would be great if local farmers could bring in the rice they grew themselves and turn it into sake."

--That's wonderful! It must be great to realize that your own rice can be turned into such delicious sake.

"There's only so much potential" Inbound tourism x sake brewery tourism

--I imagine that Yuki to Satoyama Brewery is expecting to attract customers from overseas in addition to local residents and Japanese tourists. As someone who has lived overseas for a long time and has often interacted with people from overseas through Niigata Sake Lovers, what do you think about the potential of sake brewery tourism from an inbound perspective?

"There are really only possibilities overseas.
Last year, when I traveled to various regions overseas through Mrs. SAKE activities, I realized that the number of people interested in sake is increasing dramatically. With "traditional sake brewing" being registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage at the end of the year, I think sake will attract even more attention from now on.

The French event saw more visitors than expected, causing long lines to form, leading to entry restrictions at the venue.

He appeared on stage at the Hong Kong "Washu Awards" with Hong Kong wine sommeliers and specialists for a talk about the compatibility of sake and cheese, which was a lively discussion.

Furthermore, since the COVID-19 pandemic, inbound tourists' needs have shifted from consumption of "materials," such as shopping sprees, to consumption of "experiences" that cannot be had in their home countries. According to a survey by the Japan Tourism Agency, 92% of people answered "yes" to the question, "If you learned that there was a sake brewery tour during your stay in Japan, would you like to participate?" In addition to touring sake breweries and tastings, an increasing number of people are also interested in learning about the history and methods of sake brewing, and interacting with the brewers.
However, there are still very few sake breweries that can do this. I would like to make Yuki to Satoyama Brewery a place where people from all over the world can gather to learn about authentic sake brewing and the culture and history of sake."

We want to work together with industries other than sake brewing to liven things up.

--By the way, tomorrow (October 1st) the Niigata Sake Brewery Tourism Promotion Council will be launched, with Duquette serving as a founding director.

"This council was established primarily by tourism businesses, not sake breweries, so I think we may be able to see new paths in terms of how to link sake culture with tourism.

Up until now, there haven't been many people like me who have started a sake brewery for the sake of tourism. We have been involved in sake brewing and have been offering tourism by saying, "I'll give you a little tour."
But that was a completely different job, so I think it was a big burden for the sake brewers.

This time, tourism professionals from hotels, taxis, and travel agencies will be involved and act as a point of contact with tourists, letting them know, 'There's a sake brewery like this in our area!' This will allow the breweries to focus on brewing sake. We would like to work with industries other than sake brewing to promote sake breweries as a tourism attraction throughout the prefecture."

-Among these, is there a role you would like to play?

"My strengths are food and overseas, so I create and promote content that will appeal to foreigners, including suggestions on what kind of food and sake go well together.
Yuki to Satoyama Brewery has partnered with top-class accommodation facilities in the area, such as Hotel Josu Mori, Sake no Yado Tamakiya, Hinano Yado Chitose, Ryugon, and Satoyama Jujo, to promote local experiences such as pairings, hot springs, and accommodations along with sake culture.

I would also like to do some educational work, as there are not many people who can guide people through these experiences. Many people can speak English but cannot talk about sake culture, so I would like to teach them how to guide people in English.
This is something I noticed while working as a member of the Niigata Sake Lovers, but once people get to know how interesting sake is, they start promoting it as ambassadors of their own accord (laughs).
That's why I want to increase the number of people like that. It's more like multiplying them than cultivating them."

To me, sake is a culture of drinking

--Sake has a charm that makes you want to spread the word. Finally, what does sake mean to you, Duquette?

"There are so many things... but if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be 'drinking culture'.
Originally, sake was a sacred drink offered to the gods. It has accompanied the Japanese people through good times and bad, whether it's toasting at weddings and New Years or offering a toast when someone passes away. It's something that connects people, and I think it's something we're proud of and want to share with the world.
We currently grow rice in terraced fields and use an old-fashioned foot-operated machine for threshing.
When you experience something like this, you really understand why sake is called sake because it embodies all the wisdom of the Japanese as an agricultural nation.
The more I learn about these accumulated experiences, the more I value sake and the stronger my desire to pass it on to the next generation."

Duquette is trying to break new ground in sake brewery tourism through his first brewery. "There's nothing but possibilities overseas," he says with a sparkle in his eyes, and you can sense his strong desire to spread the wonder of Japanese sake beyond his borders.

We look forward to seeing what kind of impact her new challenge will bring to sake brewery tourism as she continues to work energetically across multiple fields.

(Photo provided by Tomomi Duquette)

Living in Niigata Prefecture / Master of sake sommelier, sake sommelier, shochu sommelier I worked for a government agency supporting the export of food products, including sake, and now I work as a freelance writer. I like sake, which has a pronounced sweet and sour flavor, and craft sake made with unique additional ingredients. https://www.foriio.com/k-urabe