Guild名鑑 No.207　場創りする唎酒師 新井 文子さん

ノリと勢いも大事にしよう！
唎酒師 新井 文子さんが創る、みんなが一歩踏み出すための“本音”の場
(The English version follows the Japanese text.)

港区を起点にいろんなところで働く・暮らす、楽しい時間を創りたい人たちによるコミュニティCreative Guild。このギルド名鑑では、そんなCreative Guildでつながったユニークな方々をご紹介しています。今回ご紹介するのは、大企業に勤めながら、唎酒師としての道を歩み始めた新井 文子さん。一人ひとりが一歩を踏み出せる、“本音”で語り合えるノリと勢いのある場創りに、日本酒を一つの触媒として取り組んでいます。

新井さんは、大手企業の現場や人財開発部門などで経験を重ねてきました。そんな中、自身の将来のキャリアを見据え、“好き”なことに真剣に取り組もうと唎酒師に挑戦。会社での役割をしっかり果たしながら、日本酒を本格的に学び、唎酒師・日本酒学講師の資格を取得しました。さらに、人が自然と優しくつながり、何かが動き出す瞬間を応援するため、Creative Guildの「たまココ」などのイベントもサポートしています。

そんな新井さんが大事にしている価値観は、「ノリと勢い」です。それは無責任に流されることではなく、一歩が踏み出せない人の背中を、少し軽く押すための前向きな力。ただし、ノリと勢いだけでは続かないし、形にもなりません。だからこそ、地に足をつけ、本当は何をやりたいのかを飾らず気取らず、本音で話し合える関係性を大切にしています。そして新井さんにとって日本酒は、周囲の緊張をときほぐし、共通の話題を提供し、そんな関係性を始めてもらうための重要なアイテムとなっています。

計画をしっかり立て、計画通りに進めることはとても大事です。一方で、完璧な計画にこだわりすぎると、かえって動けなくなることもあります。とくに先行きが不透明で、正解が見えにくい時代には、まずはやってみる姿勢が不可欠です。しかし、計画された世界に長くいるほど、その一歩を踏み出す勇気は持ちにくくなる。やりたい気持ちはあるのに、動けず、機会を逃してしまう。そんな経験をしている人は少なくないのではないでしょうか。

新井さんが日本酒を触媒に創り出している場は、まさに未来への一歩を踏み出すための勇気を届ける場です。年代や分野、地域、国籍を超えて本音でつながり合うことで、ノリと勢いに知識や経験が加わり、一つの形をなしていく。そのプロセスは、“楽しい”から始める未来づくりの一つの形に違いありません。何かを始めたくなったら、まずは新井さんの場に行ってみると良さそうです。

Let’s Make Room for Momentum!!
Certified Sake Sommelier Ayako Arai Creates a “Honest” Space Where People Can Take Their First Step

Creative Guild is a community of people who live and work in various places, starting from Minato City, and who want to create joyful moments together. In this Guild Directory, we introduce unique individuals connected through Creative Guild. This time, we feature Ayako Arai, who works at a major corporation while beginning her journey as a certified sake sommelier. Using sake as a catalyst, she is creating a lively space where people can speak honestly, connect with one another, and find the courage to take their next step.

Arai has built her career through hands-on field experience and human resource development at a major company. While thinking about her own future career, she decided to take seriously something she genuinely loved: sake. While continuing to fulfill her responsibilities at work, she began studying sake in depth and earned qualifications as a Kikisake-shi, or certified sake sommelier, and as a sake educator. She also supports Creative Guild events such as Tama-Coco, helping create moments where people naturally and warmly connect, and where something new begins to move.

What Arai values most is “momentum and going with the flow.” This does not mean acting irresponsibly. Rather, it is a positive force that gently encourages people who want to move forward but cannot quite take the first step. At the same time, momentum alone is not enough to sustain something or turn it into form. That is why she also values being grounded and creating relationships where people can speak honestly about what they truly want to do, without pretending or dressing things up. For Arai, sake is an important item that helps ease tension, offers a shared topic of conversation, and opens the door to those kinds of relationships.

Making careful plans and following them through is, of course, very important. Yet when we become too attached to perfecting the plan, we may end up unable to move at all. In an uncertain era where clear answers are hard to find, the attitude of “let’s try it first” is essential. But the longer we live in a world shaped by plans and procedures, the harder it can become to find the courage to take that first step. Many of us may know the feeling of wanting to do something, yet staying still and letting the opportunity pass us by.

The spaces Arai creates through sake are, in this sense, places that offer people the courage to take a step toward the future. When people connect honestly across generations, fields, regions, and nationalities, momentum gains the support of knowledge and experience and gradually takes shape. This process is surely one form of building the future by beginning with “fun.” When you feel like starting something new, Arai’s space may be the perfect place to begin.