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Umami Mart

Oakland, CABrand · Retailer · Specialty food shop

We bring joy to everyday life with drinks + design from Japan with the spirit of omotenashi. About Us Since 2012, we have been an independently-owned small business, headquartered in Oakland, CA. Our shop is complete with a sake bar, together with our online shop, is a space to discover something new about Japanese cuisine and culture through its kitchen tools, barware, and drinks; while the blog is a space to share recipes and knowledge. Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori are childhood friends who started the Umami Mart blog together in 2007 while they toiled away in their corporate cubicles at opposite ends of the globe (Kayoko in NYC and Yoko in Tokyo). Upon returning to the Bay Area, they began selling Japanese barware on the blog, and from there, they opened their brick and mortar shop in downtown Oakland on August 3, 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. Together Yoko and Kayoko travel to Japan at least once a year to explore new offerings for the shop. Yoko is a certified Kikizakeshi (sake sommelier) and Kayoko is the Shochu Director; both are passionate about introducing the very best in Japanese products to our community, and are usually in the shop. Come say hi or drop us a line!