We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Atsushi Nakagawa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Atsushi below.

Atsushi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Story behind your mission: Good health and nutrition are so important, but I believe
it’s equally important for things to be tasty! Being able to
bring these “ancient superfoods” from my native county
and make them relevant here is very fulfilling. Our
products are crafted with great care and intention, using
local and organic ingredients wherever possible. They are
vegan, free from added sugar, naturally rich in probiotics
and enrich both the body and soul. We are so happy to
be able to offer these freshly made Japanese specialties
to all ages and cultures in Los Angeles. Seeing our
customers enjoy and be nourished by our products is a
great honor. And, of course, I put a little rock and roll
into all of it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m originally from the Japanese countryside. I grew up on a rice farm in Mie Prefecture and attended university
in Tokyo, where I studied electrical engineering. I was
always interested in drawing and music too, so after
graduating, I moved to Los Angeles to play rock and roll
music. After playing with different bands (including Frisky
Jones) I entered the car audio field, where I worked for
over 10 years. But I wanted to create my own business
related to my culture.
At a certain point I started struggling with eczema, which
led me to different alternative healing approaches. Of
course, diet and food were a part of that, and fermented
foods became something I really got into. I started
fermenting Japanese pickles and miso at home,
experimenting with different ratios, ingredients and
recipes. Then I saw an amazake ad in a Japanese
business newspaper, but I wasn’t sure about it, because
when I was little, the amazake I had was made from
sake lees (unlike today’s non-alcoholic koji-based
amazake) which was unpleasant as a kid. But the ad
made me curious, especially because I read about many
of the health benefits of this non-alcoholic amazake, and
I was still healing my skin. I started making my own
amazake and having it regularly. I grew confident that
this was something that could really help people and give
them pleasure too. This led me to apprentice in Japan,
assisting and working side by side professional
fermenters to learn as much as I could to develop my
skills.

Then, in 2019 my company headquarters moved out of
state, so I was faced with the opportunity to finally start
this business. There was so much to prepare, but I got
very lucky leasing my first commercial kitchen. There I
started making Pure Amazake, a non-pasteurized
probiotic-rich natural sweetener and then drinks:
Amazake Lattes. The lattes are vegan, delicately sweet
and refreshing and come in different flavors, such as
Matcha, Hojicha, Golden and more. I started selling them
at the Los Feliz Farmers Market and Cookbook Market (in
Echo Park and Highland Park) and began to develop a
following.
I was continuing to ferment miso at home too, and my
wife and I were very happy with the results (we enjoyed
it most mornings), so “Angeleno Miso” was born. That led
to Shio Koji and Tamari Koji, which are amazing for
marinading and dressings. There are some new things on
the horizon too!
We are now at Torrance Farmers Market every Saturday
and at Hollywood Farmers’ Market the 2 and 4 Sundays
of the month. And we are fortunate to have our products
sold at L.A.’s premier Standings Butcher, the popular and
delicious Quarter Sheets Pizza and Hot Tongue Pizza, as
well as Glassell Park’s LA Homefarm. We also ship across
the United States. You can check our website
(www.amazakeco.com) and our Instagram account
(@amazakeco) for more information and the latest
updates.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

After my first couple of years in business, I grew out of my commercial kitchen and found another larger one that
I was excited to move into. It had been a food
manufacturing facility that was previously approved by
the health department, so I expected the transition to be
fairly easy with no construction required. However, after
the first inspection, I was informed that major
remodeling would be needed: putting additional wall
panels, closing an open wall, installing an air curtain and

exchanging a faucet etc. I explained that I could not
afford all of that, but the inspector told me that if I
couldn’t afford it, I would then need to close the business
or do it by myself. She mentioned someone in my same
situation that figured out how to do it by watching
YouTube videos. So I did what she recommended. I
watched the videos, got the necessary tools and
equipment and then completed the job with the help of a
good friend of mine. After that, I got the approval.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amazakeco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amazakeco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amazakeco
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/amazakeco
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/amazake-co-torrance-6

Image Credits
_NIK5815.jpg: Kaya Blaze