Ai Kuroda started her own business in June 2022, and became the president of AndSpirits, Ltd in her native country Japan. She is also our first Japanese resident specialist here at IDS.

She runs two liquor stores and bars, "&SPIRITS" in Nakameguro, Tokyo, and "SAKE COLLECTIVE &SPIRITS" in the Marunouchi Building which is directly connected to Tokyo Station.

Her first store, &SPIRITS, specialises in only spirits and carries around 500 different types of spirits from all over the world, and all selected by Ai Kuroda.

She also has an importer license and is a Japanese distributor of imported spirits mainly from Europe.

In addition, she also organises and manages events related to spirits from all over the world, involving embassies of various countries.

In April 2024, she passed the MASTER OF SCOTCH. organised by THE COUNCIL OF WHISKEY MASTERS, the world's leading whisky education institution, as the first Japanese to pass the exam.

She is a specialist in whisky and other spirits and a challenger in the Japanese liquor industry, having undertaken the above-mentioned business in just two years.