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Sake brewery turned warehouse into practice space for Olympic gold-winning skateboarder

09 August 2021 By Alice Liang

Yoshimura Hideo Shoten, a sake brewery in Wakayama, Japan, lent invaluable support to Sakura Yosozumi, the first-ever Olympic gold medal skateboarder, by offering its warehouse space as the athlete’s private skatepark.

This year’s Olympics marks the first time that women’s park skateboarding has been included in the famous event. Japan’s Sakura Yosozumi was awarded the gold medal, with Kokona Hiraki winning silver, and Sky Brown, representing the UK, bringing home the bronze.

It has been revealed that the community of Wakayama, the hometown of skateboarding gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi, has been behind her all the way, with its local sake brewery – Yoshimura Hideo Shoten – even providing its warehouse space for her to practice in.

The 19-year-old skateboarder was born and raised in Iwade in Wakayama; a small town with a population of 53,000 people. Since Iwade does not have a full-size skateboard practice range, Yosozumi has been practicing in a skatepark in Kobe instead. The journey takes her more than three hours to travel back and forth every time for the practice.

However, due to the pandemic, the skatepark at Kobe was forced to close, and Katsuhiko Yasumura, owner of Yoshimura Hideo Shoten, a local sake brewery, stepped in to help the talented skateboarder. Yasumura had heard from a real estate agent that Yosozumi was searching for a new site to practice locally. He offered to help by transforming part of the brewery’s warehouse, which used to be a rice mill, into an exclusive skateboard training park for her practice.

In just two months, they built bowl-shaped slopes inside the space and renovated the area into a new practice facility named “Sakura Park.” Since the park is only a five-minute drive away from Yosozumi’s home, the creation of the new venue has saved her countless commuting hours.

Yosozumi has been able to use the facility anytime she wants for free from November 2020 until the Tokyo Olympics. Yasumura even held meetings with local neighbours and landlords to explain the potential noise made during her practice.

As reported, Yosozumi spent eight to 10 hours a day at the park, mastering 540 tricks which include the aerial maneuvre. In one of her interviews, she said “I would not have perfected my skills without the park, I am so grateful to the brewery.”

Founded in 1914 by Yoshimura Hideo, Yoshimura Hideo Shoten was established in the middle of Wakayama’s mountain range. Kurumazaka is the major premium sake label produced by the brewery. The sakes are brewed using traditional yamahai and kimoto methods.

The company’s sake is brewed with water from the underground flow of the Kinokawa River. In recent years, their products have started to gain international recognition by shining in global competitions.

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