Art Oki Presentation

ART OKI Retirement is sweet Madeline Moy, COM 351

WHO IS ART OKI AND WHY DID I WANT TO INTERVIEW HIM?
Art is an acquaintance of my husband who recently retired and started his own business making Japanese sweets.
I sampled some of Art’s mochi (Japanese rice cake), which I thought were delicious.
I have a deep interest in food, and I especially love desserts. I have always enjoyed eating mochi so my main purpose in interviewing Art was to learn more about his business and how he prepares his sweets.

ALL ABOUT ART
Born and raised in Seattle
Third-generation Japanese-American
Has two sisters and one brother, he is the second oldest
Attended Franklin High School, Seattle Community College, University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University
Not married but has a significant other and a dog named Sadie
55 years old

ALL ABOUT ART
Art has worked mostly in finance and accounting.
Columbia Greenhouse
Nordstrom
Northern Commercial Company
People’s Bank
Pay N Save
City of Des Moines
Seattle Housing Authority
City of Seattle
Department of Neighborhoods
Department of Engineering
Seattle Public Utilities
City Attorney’s Office

ALL ABOUT ART
Art retired at age 55, but he wanted to stay active so he made plans to start his own business.
“ While I was working for the city, I was thinking about…what I would do after retirement…I thought (Japanese sweets) would be a fun thing to pursue.”

JAPANESE SWEET SHOPS IN SEATTLE
According to Art, there hasn’t been a Japanese sweet shop in the Seattle area for at least 30 years.
Why? The families that had done it previously—the children decided to do other things. And fairly labor intensive business.
People have been going to California or Hawaii to get sweets or they import them from Japan.

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
Art’s business is called Umai-Do , which is Japanese for “tasty shop.”
He trained for four years with a well-known Japanese sweets manufacturer in Los Angeles.
Art is currently running the business out of his home and has four employees.
He wants to sell to “everybody and anybody.”
Art will be opening a retail location at 19 th and Jackson Street in Seattle. Tea will be served, and Art hopes his shop will become “the Japanese version of Starbucks.”

JAPANESE SWEETS 101
Manju : General term for Japanese sweets. According to Wikipedia, there are many varieties of manju , but most have an outside made from flour, rice powder and buckwheat and a filling of red bean paste, made from boiled azuki beans and sugar.
Wagashi : Traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea.
Mochi : A Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape.

Mochi making video

ART’S SWEETS
Manju-Habutai : White mochi with red bean paste
Pink Mochi : Pink mochi with white bean paste
Manju-Yomogi : Green tea mochi with red bean paste
Manju-Kinako : Soy bean flour and green mochi with red bean paste
Dorayaki : Pancake with red bean paste
Matcha Dorayaki : Green tea pancake with red bean paste
Imogashi : Cakey cover with white bean paste

WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
Art’s goals for his business
To make a profit
Be known for high-quality sweets
Multiple locations
Have happy employees
To spread the word about Japanese sweets and expose more people to them
“ For me, it’s a passion…I don’t even think about the bottom line at this point.”

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Art Oki Presentation

by madmoy on Feb 25, 2009

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