Yoko Kumano
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Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori are the founders of Umami Mart, a Japanese drinks store in Oakland, California. Childhood friends from Cupertino, they started a food blog called Umami Mart in 2007 as a way to stay in touch (and deflect boredom) from their cubicle jobs in Tokyo and New York. After moving back to the Bay Area, they opened their shop in downtown Oakland in 2012. Umami Mart started as a barware and kitchen tools store before expanding to sake and spirits, and it now focuses on sake education through classes and a monthly club. The shop has been featured in The New York Times, Wirecutter, and New York magazine, and the owners are frequent guests on various drinks podcasts.
