How a Cup of Coffee Turned a Local Banker to a Barista Overseas, Then Into a Product Manager

At Kurasu, we encourage and embrace members with various backgrounds to thrive. 

One of such people is Naruo, who quit his first job as a banker to move to Melbourne, Australia, where there is a thriving coffee culture, and worked as a barista at a local cafe.

He then joined Kurasu in 2021, as a launching member of Kurasu’s sister brand (now merged), Kigu, a brand that introduces imported coffee gear to the Japanese market.  We interviewed Naruo and asked him how he joined Kurasu, his current work as a product manager, and his vision for the future.

Quitting the First Job at a Bank, and Moved to Melbourne

——Please share with us about your career so far.

I am from Kyoto, graduated from the Faculty of Economics at a university in Shiga, and joined a bank as a new graduate.

It wasn’t my dream job or a life goal or anything- many around me graduated from local universities and got jobs at local banks, and I didn’t question that I, too, follow the same path.

At the bank, my main job was to visit clients’ homes and make proposals for managing their financial assets. Financial products such as investment trusts and deposits cannot be shown to customers as physical products, so they must be sold through communication, trusts and  relationships with clients.

At first, I thought positively that it would be an exciting challenge, but the effort required to achieve the quota put a lot of strain on me, and it became increasingly hard to continue. 

In my third year, I was ordered to transfer to a branch office and the environment became even more difficult, and I felt that I had enough and could not go on anymore.

Looking back I was probably too stressed to think straight, but I thought that if I was getting free from this company, I may as well be free from Japan, and decided to move out of the country. 

--That's a bold decision! But why abroad?

Back then, I was living in a shared accommodation in Kyoto with 5-6 people. They are all Japanese but they were all well travelled or had experiences on working holiday.  They had excellent communication skills, and often invited foreign friends and travelers they met to the house. Seeing them, I also wanted to join in the conversation and talk to people with different cultural backgrounds, but at the time I couldn't speak English. 

That frustration I felt fueled me to learn to speak English, and as I just quit my job I thought I’d go abroad and learn English. My girlfriend (now my wife), who I had been with since university, wasn’t too sure about the idea at first, but eventually she gave me her blessing and supported my decision. 

First, I went to the Philippines for a month of language class and refreshed my grammar and basics of English, then applied for a working holiday in Melbourne, Australia.

——Among several places you could go to on a working holiday, why did you choose Melbourne?

There weren’t many strong reasons, but I've always loved coffee. I didn't know much about it, I was just visiting cafes on my days off and buying coffee at convenience stores, but when I thought about what I wanted to do during my working holiday, coffee came to my mind.

I chose Melbourne because I had heard that it has a thriving coffee, it is relatively easy to get a visa, and I had an image of Melbourne being culturally inclusive.

When I actually went to Melbourne and tried coffee there, I was shocked by how delicious it was. Whether you go to coffee shops or restaurants anywhere in town, there are professional baristas, who serve you a perfectly prepared espresso drink. It was amazing and made me want to be the one serving coffee in Melbourne too.

However, the fact that I could not speak English made things difficult. There was no way I was hirable at local cafes with my level of English, so I spent the first 3 months taking a day class at a language school, and worked part-time as a waiter at a local Japanese restaurant in the evening. I was barely able to take orders, so I had to hand the menu to the customer and have them point at what they wanted.

After finishing the language school, I attended a barista school where I learned how to make coffee and was hired as a barista at a cafe in the suburbs of Melbourne- this was the beginning of my coffee career.

Becoming an Experienced Barista, and Finding Kurasu 

——For how long did you work at the cafe in Melbourne?

The couple who owned the cafe let me kindly work there for a year and a half until I returned to Japan, where I was able to brush up my skills as a barista.

Originally, I intended to have my working holiday for one year, and return to Japan in May 2020, but the pandemic started a few months before that. Many of my Japanese acquaintances in Melbourne were working in the hospitality industry, so they lost their jobs and returned to Japan.

However, the cafe I worked at was located in a residential area, so we continued to operate only for takeout during the lockdown. In fact, we started getting a lot of customers who no longer commute and we’ve got pretty busy. Some people have started enjoying coffee at home during the lockdown, but the culture of going out and drinking coffee is probably deeply rooted in Australia.

To top that, the main barista at the cafe who was visiting his home country could not come back to Australia due to the pandemic. To cover his absence, I was given a lot more responsibility as a barista, which probably helped improve both my skills and my English along the way.

——How did you decide to return to Japan and how did you find Kurasu?

The owners were great people and I enjoyed working there, but I couldn't see a path to furthering my career in Melbourne. By then I could speak English well enough to achieve my language test’s target score, I was keeping my girlfriend waiting, and I really liked Japan after all- so I decided to return to Japan in April 2021.

At that time, I was required to be quarantined for two weeks after entering Japan, so while I was at it, I was looking into job openings at cafes in Kyoto in hope of finding a coffee related job.

However, I had this feeling I was having since when I was still in Melbourne, that I want to make a difference for a bigger number of people than those who I’d meet and serve coffees at a cafe. I was interested in coffee roasting and importing green beans- I wanted to be involved in something that let me see the industry in a bigger picture.

Just then, I saw an opening on Kurasu's Instagram for a position importing coffee equipment from overseas. Although I had not thought about getting into the coffee equipment trade, I thought it would be an interesting job that could have a wide-ranging impact, and I also liked coffee equipment in general, so I applied straight away.

I spoke with Yozo online from the hotel where I was quarantined, and the day after my quarantine period ended, I went to Kurasu Ebisugawa in Kyoto for an interview and was hired on the spot. I still remember how surprised I was when Yozo asked me when I can start, and when I said anytime, he said, “please start tomorrow then”, haha.

From Launching Kigu to Becoming a Product Manager

——What kind of tasks and projects have you been in charge of since joining Kurasu?

I was entrusted with turning Yozo's idea of ​​importing excellent coffee equipment from around the world and sharing them with the coffee enthusiasts in Japan into a reality from scratch. 

I built an online store using Shopify, designed product pages, set up social media accounts and posted on them…there were so many things I have never done before, so everyday I was presented with fresh challenges and new experiences.  

I also set up our logistics system. At the time, we were packing and shipping products from our office in Ebisugawa, but since we were expecting to receive a large amount of coffee equipment in containers from overseas, I looked for a third party warehouse and the fulfillment center so that we can outsource our fulfillment process. 

My role was also to expand the range of brands we handle. We started only with Fellow’s electric kettle and Prismo, an attachment for AeroPress- from there, we gradually increased the number of brands and products.

Even though the number of products I was handling back then was small, there were all kinds of things to do-  such as communicating with overseas manufacturers, placing orders, processing customs clearance, and customer support. Currently, we have more people and teams for customer support, website management, and social media management, which let me focus not only on Kigu but also on company-wide product management at Kurasu.

——Tell us what you find especially challenging and rewarding?

I started out being in charge of everything- that means that only I had to know everything. But now, as a product manager I need to delegate tasks to people in my team. That change made me acutely aware how bad I am at basic communication for teamwork, which makes everyday a humbling experience. 

Every time I communicate with our business partners around the world, when we set up our own booth at an international fairs and invite special guests, or when I get to travel around the world, I feel such a sense of achievement. 

If the people I used to live with, those who knew me when I was hoping to be able to speak English, saw me now working in an international business, they’d be so happy for me.

——It has been three years since you joined Kurasu. How would you describe Kurasu as a company? 

I’d say Kurasu is where you can make your dream come true. It's an environment where positive challenges and changes are welcomed.

We are currently in the expansion phase of our business, and the gain comes with some pain- but if you are a kind of person who’d enjoy that type of challenges and environment, Kurasu is definitely a great place to be. 

For example, Kurasu handles new products that are not yet widely recognized in Japan. You’ll never know if it will be a hit, how well it will sell- while we can predict those things to a certain extent, you won't know for sure until you actually dive into it. In such a situation, Kurasu’s mindset as a company is always to say “let’s try and find out- that’s the only way to get feedback.” This culture encourages people to speak their mind and not shy away from sharing ideas.

When someone is going off the road there are always others to point it out, and if anyone fails, we are always ready to work together and help each other, figuring things out. It feels safe to try.

A Future Where a Delicious Cup of Specialty Coffee Becomes the Norm

——What do you expect from the future coffee industry, and what do you want to accomplish in Kurasu?

I hope that specialty coffee becomes a lot more common in the Japanese coffee industry, so that we can get a good cup of coffee anytime, anywhere. 

To achieve that, we need both coffee shops in town to serve more delicious coffee, and high-quality beans and great coffee equipment to be widely available. While I still have a lot to learn as a product manager, it would be my honor if I could help make good products available to fellow coffee enthusiasts in Japan.

And I simply want everyone to brew coffee at home! Brewing coffee is fun, and watching it brew is such a meditative experience. Making sure to have that little moment of pause will make our busy lives a little more happy.

——Thank you, Naruo-san. To wrap up, please tell us about your favorite coffee equipment!

My current favorite is this dripper which is still rare in Japan- it’s called Graycano. It is coated with aluminum, so it has a very good thermal conductivity.

It has a great presence, looks cool, and extracts the flavor of the coffee well, making delicious cups.