Japan

Miyuki Morimoto

Miyuki is a Japanese sommelier, previously working at The Grove restaurant in Auckland, New Zealand, before moving back to Japan in late 2019 to begin working at Conrad Tokyo in Shiodome. Miyuki’s first part-time job, working in a casual restaurant, instilled in her a love of hospitality. She explains: “I felt that the experience of making people happy and connecting with them through food and drink fits my personality.” Upon graduating from a restaurant course at vocational school and starting work for a fine dining restaurant group, Miyuki found that she faced an entrenched sexist attitude from both staff and guests alike, even being told once, “This guest is very classic and expects male service, so you can’t come in”. This culture of sexism is combined with the relatively low status of the restaurant business in Japan, wherein “sommeliers and attendants…are not respected much. And even more so if they are women.” Miyuki’s frustration was somewhat alleviated when she met her current mentor, Satoru Mori, who respected her as a driven sommelier wanting to learn more and didn’t discriminate against her based upon her gender. With her new mentorship and through her hard work, Miyuki came 2nd in the All-Japan Best Sommelier Competition in 2020, and in November 2022 she will become the first woman to ever represent Japan at the Asia-Oceania Sommelier Competition in Taiwan. Miyuki feels that her attainment of the MS certification, alongside her participation in the aforementioned competitions, will enable her to be a role model for other young female sommeliers to aspire to.

“Through this scholarship I would like to encourage everybody working in the wine and hospitality industry in Japan to be proud of their work”