High Life

84 品 In fact, it’s a bottle that after people drink the saké they will want to keep it. It’s all part ofwhatmakes it special.” In many ways, Nakata’s ventures into the world of saké mirror his pursuits on the football field. Having debuted in Italy with Perugia in 1998 before forging a lengthy career with Italian giants Roma and Fiorentina, he was among the very first Japanese players to make it big in Europe and has been credited with building a bridge for the many countrymen now following in his footsteps overseas. “At the time I was too busy playing and I never imagined that I might be building a bridge for other players to come to Europe too … but I hope I played some part in that because there are so many Japanese players playing in Europe today,” Nakata observes. “Playing football, I also got to learn a lot about the world and I believe I can use that, bring that back to Japan to help and specifically to help the saké industry. I wouldn’t say I’m paying it back but maybe I can create a dream for other people.”