Bartending Internship in Tokyo
Donation protected
Hello, My name is Iruma Shibuya
I am a bartender at Ames Street Deli , which is Backbar's (Union Sq, Somerville MA) sister property in Kendall Sq, Cambridge MA.
(Halloween at Ames Street Deli)
I have had the pleasure of learning the art of craft cocktail from the 2 time winner of Boston’s Best Bartender, Sam Treadway since May of 2015. Just shy of a year of hard work and dedication, I have been presented with an amazing opportunity to travel to Tokyo, Japan to intern at one of the top 15 bars in the world for just shy of 3 months! I am still in the middle of communicating with the bar owner, but haven’t quite gotten the consent from him to use his or his bar’s name, so I have chosen to keep both names out of this GoFundMe.
You can find the bar listed on this website: http://www.worlds50bestbars.com/55bfd2f59f/
This opportunity has been a collaborative effort on behalf of Sam, the bar owner, and myself with the support of my family. However, as expected, there are some financial hurdles I need to tackle, and this is why I am on GoFundMe today.
Here are two challenges I am facing financially during this time.
1. As this is an unpaid internship, my first concern would be living expenses.
2. I also have credit card debts that I need to take care of here in America whilst I am overseas.
So how did I get here, and what am I looking to do with your support?
Originally before all this, I was working on a startup company from 2010-2014, and unfortunately, it all ended on a sour note with a massive amount of debt incurred.
Down & depressed, I was jobless from September-November of 2014. My girlfriend at the time took me out to a gorgeous 9 course meal at Journeyman in Union Sq, Somerville MA, and I was enthralled with the experience! I immediately asked if they were hiring that night, but was told that they didn't have the space, however, they were opening a new restaurant.
Struck with low self confidence, I made no effort to apply for the position for a whole month. After expanding my horizons, taking up cosplay photography and gaining positive responses from both my friends and strangers, my confidence level rose, and I decided to just go for a position at this restaurant.
I had always been interested in working as a bartender. My grandmother, before my mother was born, owned and ran a bar in Dotonbori, Osaka Japan. I grew up listening to her stories and lessons on how to make clear ice, how to shake tins, ways she dealt with unwanted rowdy guests, most of all, the fun she had in the industry. The food and beverage industry isn’t anything foreign to me either, my mother used to be a head chef of a vegan macrobiotic restaurant in Osaka, Japan, and my first job was at bakery. I started working at the Japonaise Bakery (currently in Brookline MA) at the earliest age I could obtain a job in MA (16), and I started out as a cashier. I spent a year and a half there, took another year and half off, then went back for 4 months where I moved up to managing all 3 of the locations they had owned.
(Photo taken at Ames Steet Deli)
In terms of education, I attended Minuteman Career and Technical High School in Lexington MA. I started off in their Graphic Design department, but switched over to their hospitality management course for my last 2 years. I was part of their pilot course, and newly established with 4 other friends I had gathered to help start (8 was the minimum requirement and the culinary department had sent some people in our direction as well).
There was also an anime series that I watched when I was 15 called “Bartender ”. This series had successfully poked at all of my interests such as, human psychology, the art of storytelling, refinement, knowledge, and a beautiful way of presenting oneself.
However, by time I had applied to Study in Kendall Sq, Cambridge MA, I was looking for any position they were looking to fill. I had barely any experience going to bars, nor had I ever worked in one before. I was hired as a backserver in November 2014, and traversed through the goings and comings of a new restaurant. I received the opportunity to stage in the kitchen and work as a barista before I got the barback position at Ames. After a while, I became a server for Study, but Ames went through a change in staff, and needed bartenders. I refocused on working up to become a bartender, and at the end of May, I successfully moved up, and got my first cocktail on the menu with Sam’s guidance 2 weeks in.
My lack of experience and knowledge of the industry has allowed me to approach bartending from a ground up perspective, learning each of the spirits, and how flavor profiles interact with one another to create a balanced harmonious experience for the guest. I love puzzles, and this is the aspect that I really enjoy about my work. My passion is figuring out what each of the guests are in the mood for, what kind of flavor they are seeking in each drink, which may vary drink by drink.
When presented with the opportunity to intern at this Japanese bar, I immediately did some research, and found out that this bar doesn’t carry a menu. They interact and read what the guests are interested in, and formulates the drinks for them. Their style resonates with my passion so closely that it has been a source of excitement for me over the last couple months.
I am honored to have such an opportunity and would love to enhance any aspect of my time there.
Today I am here on GoFundMe to seek financial aid in 2 different fields.
I have saved up some finances to survive, but to live in Tokyo, and to be able to experience the scope of what they have to offer, I would need, at the very least, $500 a month for living expenses, travel, food & beverages. I would also like to ask for $800 to for each of the months I am away from America (a total of $2400), that would cover any and all credit card debts I would have to pay while I am away. I have contacted each of the credit card companies to see if I can defer, or lower my payments each month, however none of them have been able to help me accomplish either goals. For this reason I am asking for a total of $3,900.
Even though I was born in Tokyo, I have only lived in Osaka, Japan for 3 years, and know little about the country. I am also looking to expand my knowledge of the restaurants, bars, appliances/tools in the area, and any information that can be shared with me, I would gladly accept!
Any finances beyond $3,900 will be spent towards purchasing bar tools.
I will be uploading photos and documenting my experiences through my Facebook and Instagram.
I hope you find interest in my future and the kind of potential this opportunity will offer me.
(Photo credit to Chloë Feldman Emison)
Please help fund me to make my dreams come true.
Sincerely,
Iruma Shibuya
I am a bartender at Ames Street Deli , which is Backbar's (Union Sq, Somerville MA) sister property in Kendall Sq, Cambridge MA.
(Halloween at Ames Street Deli)I have had the pleasure of learning the art of craft cocktail from the 2 time winner of Boston’s Best Bartender, Sam Treadway since May of 2015. Just shy of a year of hard work and dedication, I have been presented with an amazing opportunity to travel to Tokyo, Japan to intern at one of the top 15 bars in the world for just shy of 3 months! I am still in the middle of communicating with the bar owner, but haven’t quite gotten the consent from him to use his or his bar’s name, so I have chosen to keep both names out of this GoFundMe.
You can find the bar listed on this website: http://www.worlds50bestbars.com/55bfd2f59f/
This opportunity has been a collaborative effort on behalf of Sam, the bar owner, and myself with the support of my family. However, as expected, there are some financial hurdles I need to tackle, and this is why I am on GoFundMe today.
Here are two challenges I am facing financially during this time.
1. As this is an unpaid internship, my first concern would be living expenses.
2. I also have credit card debts that I need to take care of here in America whilst I am overseas.
So how did I get here, and what am I looking to do with your support?
Originally before all this, I was working on a startup company from 2010-2014, and unfortunately, it all ended on a sour note with a massive amount of debt incurred.
Down & depressed, I was jobless from September-November of 2014. My girlfriend at the time took me out to a gorgeous 9 course meal at Journeyman in Union Sq, Somerville MA, and I was enthralled with the experience! I immediately asked if they were hiring that night, but was told that they didn't have the space, however, they were opening a new restaurant.
Struck with low self confidence, I made no effort to apply for the position for a whole month. After expanding my horizons, taking up cosplay photography and gaining positive responses from both my friends and strangers, my confidence level rose, and I decided to just go for a position at this restaurant.
I had always been interested in working as a bartender. My grandmother, before my mother was born, owned and ran a bar in Dotonbori, Osaka Japan. I grew up listening to her stories and lessons on how to make clear ice, how to shake tins, ways she dealt with unwanted rowdy guests, most of all, the fun she had in the industry. The food and beverage industry isn’t anything foreign to me either, my mother used to be a head chef of a vegan macrobiotic restaurant in Osaka, Japan, and my first job was at bakery. I started working at the Japonaise Bakery (currently in Brookline MA) at the earliest age I could obtain a job in MA (16), and I started out as a cashier. I spent a year and a half there, took another year and half off, then went back for 4 months where I moved up to managing all 3 of the locations they had owned.
(Photo taken at Ames Steet Deli)In terms of education, I attended Minuteman Career and Technical High School in Lexington MA. I started off in their Graphic Design department, but switched over to their hospitality management course for my last 2 years. I was part of their pilot course, and newly established with 4 other friends I had gathered to help start (8 was the minimum requirement and the culinary department had sent some people in our direction as well).
There was also an anime series that I watched when I was 15 called “Bartender ”. This series had successfully poked at all of my interests such as, human psychology, the art of storytelling, refinement, knowledge, and a beautiful way of presenting oneself.
However, by time I had applied to Study in Kendall Sq, Cambridge MA, I was looking for any position they were looking to fill. I had barely any experience going to bars, nor had I ever worked in one before. I was hired as a backserver in November 2014, and traversed through the goings and comings of a new restaurant. I received the opportunity to stage in the kitchen and work as a barista before I got the barback position at Ames. After a while, I became a server for Study, but Ames went through a change in staff, and needed bartenders. I refocused on working up to become a bartender, and at the end of May, I successfully moved up, and got my first cocktail on the menu with Sam’s guidance 2 weeks in.
My lack of experience and knowledge of the industry has allowed me to approach bartending from a ground up perspective, learning each of the spirits, and how flavor profiles interact with one another to create a balanced harmonious experience for the guest. I love puzzles, and this is the aspect that I really enjoy about my work. My passion is figuring out what each of the guests are in the mood for, what kind of flavor they are seeking in each drink, which may vary drink by drink.
When presented with the opportunity to intern at this Japanese bar, I immediately did some research, and found out that this bar doesn’t carry a menu. They interact and read what the guests are interested in, and formulates the drinks for them. Their style resonates with my passion so closely that it has been a source of excitement for me over the last couple months.
I am honored to have such an opportunity and would love to enhance any aspect of my time there.
Today I am here on GoFundMe to seek financial aid in 2 different fields.
I have saved up some finances to survive, but to live in Tokyo, and to be able to experience the scope of what they have to offer, I would need, at the very least, $500 a month for living expenses, travel, food & beverages. I would also like to ask for $800 to for each of the months I am away from America (a total of $2400), that would cover any and all credit card debts I would have to pay while I am away. I have contacted each of the credit card companies to see if I can defer, or lower my payments each month, however none of them have been able to help me accomplish either goals. For this reason I am asking for a total of $3,900.
Even though I was born in Tokyo, I have only lived in Osaka, Japan for 3 years, and know little about the country. I am also looking to expand my knowledge of the restaurants, bars, appliances/tools in the area, and any information that can be shared with me, I would gladly accept!
Any finances beyond $3,900 will be spent towards purchasing bar tools.
I will be uploading photos and documenting my experiences through my Facebook and Instagram.
I hope you find interest in my future and the kind of potential this opportunity will offer me.
(Photo credit to Chloë Feldman Emison)Please help fund me to make my dreams come true.
Sincerely,
Iruma Shibuya
Organizer
Iruma Shibuya
Organizer
Arlington, MA
