Building Trust with Japanese Tea Producers — An Interview with Joëlle and Also from Ikkyu

Aldo and Joëlle arrived in Japan more than ten years ago. Attached to good terroir, they wanted to import Italian products. However, unpredictable events made them move to Fukuoka, on the island of Kyushu. There, they fell in love with the local green tea and, with some friends, they ended up founding Ikkyu, an online tea shop that supports Kyushu tea producers.

Read on to learn what makes Kyushu tea different, the keys to building a lasting trust relationship with the local producers, and the challenges of entrepreneurship in Japan.

Falling in Love with Japan

Originally, why did you come to Japan?

Aldo: I have always had a fascination with Japan because my father was a big fan of Kurosawa, and we would watch his movies together. Later, I witnessed the manga boom in Europe and the Japanese animation on TV at the time. Then, in 2002, we decided to go to Japan for our honeymoon. It was an adventure: there was less information about Japan at the time, iPhones did not exist yet, and we had to make hotel reservations by fax [laughs].

Still, it was love at first sight with the country. We traveled for five weeks during the summer. Although we were unprepared for the Japanese summer…