Sake Expert Rebekah Wilson-Lye on Sake Culture

International PR and marketing manager at Japan Craft Sake Company, New Zealander Rebekah Wilson-Lye, 44, is profiled in The Japan Times.

Wilson-Lye tells the Times that she discovered sake 14 years ago at the welcoming party by the language school she came to work for in Japan.

“I was given some local sake. It was an epiphany,” she says.

“I went looking for more of that amazing drink I’d discovered – first in shops and izakaya (taverns) and then by visiting sake breweries. It happened very organically. Before I knew it, sake had become my life.

“Sake isn’t just a drink, it’s a culture,” Wilson-Lye tells the newspaper. “I knew I wanted others to have that same life-changing moment I had experienced. Doing this job, I can pursue that dream full-time.”

She explains what aspects of Japan she finds “totally awesome”.

“I love the juxtaposition of modern and traditional, that collision of so many different eras in the present moment. I also love how Japan is becoming more international and inclusive.”

Original article by Robbie Swinnerton, The Japan Times, May 25, 2019.