Kobayashi Tsutomu, owner of the import company Kobatsu Trading, has so well branded himself through his charisma that many call him by his company name: Kobatsu-san. Ever seen the big, smiling Japanese guy in traditional German lederhosen and tall hat at beer festivals? That’s him.

He’s definitely no poser just wearing a costume, but an ambassador of beer. His story starts in 2001 when he was sent to Europe for job training unrelated to beer. He had only previous had Japanese lagers, but landed in Munich, of all places, where his boss gave him some local beer. His life changed.

After returning to Japan, Kobatsu built a community of German-beer lovers through social networks so they could share information. His connections with businesses consequently grew, too. Eventually, he realized he had everything he needed to import German beer himself. It was a fortuitous moment because the company he was working for needed to downsize; he took “early leave” in April of 2011 and the compensation money along with it, which he used to launch his company.

One brewery he tried to import turned him down but introduced him to a kindred brewery deeply interested in exporting to Japan: Plank. He had never heard of them and was shocked to discover they were very highly rated by beer fans. When the samples arrived, he was blown away.

Because of his network, he was immediately able to move kegs into 50 places around Japan. Additionally, Plank had won the award for Best Small-Scale Brewery at the World Beer Cup just before he started importing. Then came disaster: 90% of the weizen he had imported had gone sour on the voyage. He decided to ship his kegs cold thereafter, among other safeguards.

Says Kobatsu, “I lost a ton of money, but it was a good lesson.”

It has mostly been smooth sailing since then. He notes that everyone is familiar with German beer, but has trouble naming a brand. He aims to change that and it looks like Plank is going to lead the way.

This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.