Through the management done by Joey Yasumatsu, SABON went from a brand barely known to a household name in Japan in recent years. Using her experience and expertise of Japan as well as marketing, Joey Yasumatsu has worked with countless companies from Israel and other countries to make the transition into the Japanese market seamless. ISRAERU was able to speak with Joey on bringing Israeli goods into Japan as well as her career that led her up to this point.
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From IT to importing, a unexpected change in career
Born in Hong Kong and raised in New York, Joey had a diverse background of living in various countries. At a young age, Joey fell in love with Japanese culture, and attended university in Japan with a double major in finance and Japanese. After graduating, Joey worked in New York as a programmer, on a completely different trajectory than her current work.
During her time working in New York, Joey would always have friends from Japan come and visit, looking for things to buy. With a knack for quality, needs, and aesthetics, Joey was skilled and enjoyed curating goods for the people of Japan.
Although Joey was already importing small batches of goods to be introduced into Japan, everything skyrocketed from one small interaction that happened by chance.
“I was on my way to my friend's birthday party in New York when I came across the SABON shop. I loved the small candle shop and couldn't help but visit despite being in a rush. Unbelievably, SABON opened another shop soon after, and it was located directly in front of my apartment.”
Joey knew that the SABON products were needed in Japan, and immediately approached the brand to expand to the Japanese market. SABON was hesitant and rejected the offer from Joey. This did not stop Joey, with her confidence and love for the brand, she continued to keep in touch and convince SABON. In total it took Joey three years from her first day contacting SABON, to opening the first store in Japan.
The ins and outs of bringing international products to Japan
Paired with her experience of studying in Japan, Joey was the mediator between the Israeli people at SABON and the people involved in Japan. The first SABON store was opened in Omotesando, and was a great success. As a director Joey expanded SABON through studying and researching the Japanese market, creating events and tailoring the SABON brand to the people of Japan. Through her marketing and management, Joey and her team went from one SABON store to 45 stores in Japan.
This also translated into more projects for Joey, including her work with Israeli brands Papier and 1220 Ceramics as successful imports into the Japanese market. With so much demand for her expertise, Joey founded UPPER HOUSE corporation, offering to introduce companies around the world to Japan. As a veteran in importing international goods, Joey has important traits she looks for in potential partners.
“One of the most important aspects for making it in the Japanese market is quality. Japan has so many well made products in the market that quality has become a necessity to even be on the same level.”
Through showing the quality curated products from Israel, Joey also hopes that the image the people of Japan have of the country will become more positive.
“It is such a pity that many people have a negative image of the dangers of Israel. As someone who has visited many times, Israel is full of kindness and creativity of people making gorgeous products and culture.”
Words of advice
Having learned from many different cultures, Joey had words of advice for future generations with a value she learned from Israel.
“The people of Israel are not afraid of failure, and instead see it as a way to learn for themselves. This way of thinking made me so much more accomplished and taught me more than I would have if I never gave it a shot.”
Joey also emphasized on being proactive.
“Try as many things as you possibly can, learning skills that may not seem relevant will become instrumental later in your life, and can save you a lot of time and money.”
With as much love for her work as when she first started importing, Joey has plans to grow many other international companies in the future, with quality as a priority.
“For me to work on importing for a company, I need to have a love for the brand and products that makes me want to work with them, if I do not personally love the company, the importing never works as well”
UPPER HOUSE
