How a Visit to Findlay Ignited One Man’s Passion to Open a Craft Brewery in Japan
By Sarah Mayle
When Tomohiro Okada took a tour of the original 900-square foot Findlay Brewing Co. about 10 years ago, the smells, sounds and creative energy left a powerful impression. Yet it was the people – their joy and passion – that his mind continued to replay. Years after visiting, he took a chance that changed his life – and is now the proud owner of OUR Brewing in Fukui, Japan.
After becoming inspired during a visit to Findlay about 10 years ago, Tomohiro Okada opened his own brewery in Fukui, Japan in 2024.
“It was my first time stepping inside a craft brewery,” the Fukui, Japan native said. “I remember the smell of the malt, the sound of the tanks bubbling. It didn’t feel like a factory – it felt like a creative studio. Everyone working there looked genuinely happy – they loved what they were doing, and that energy was contagious. I thought, ‘This is what work should feel like.’”
Findlay enjoys a robust, 40-year friendship with Japan, reflected by delegation visits between our city and Japan, eight Japanese companies located in Hancock County, a Friendship Cities agreement with the Saitama Prefecture, and other established exchanges within education, business and government. In September, during a Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development visit to Japan, Chris Keller, executive director, and Matt Gilroy, director of strategic initiatives, met Okada during an event reuniting Japanese friends who have visited Findlay as part of our city’s relationship to the region. Keller and Gilroy were overjoyed to hear his story.
Chris Keller, executive director of Findlay Hancock County Economic Development
“We visit Japan to keep our relationships with our friends strong and to make new connections, to attract new businesses, to experience the Japanese culture, and to learn,” Keller said. “This really helps you see what kind of an impact this valuable exchange can have. We’re honored that Mr. Okada shared this amazing story – it’s an inspiration.”
Okada attended the University of Findlay from 2014-2015 as part of an exchange program between UF and the Fukui Prefecture in Japan and studied local and international business. Returning home, he went on to work in sales and marketing for a large IT company in Tokyo for several years. In his spare time, Okada and his eventual business partner began pursuing a new passion, training at various breweries to learn and refine the craft of brewing.
One Passion Project Sparks Another
Located at 213 E. Crawford St. since 2018, Findlay Brewing Company originally opened in 2013 at the corner of North Main and Center streets. What started around 2007 as a group of friends enjoying craft beer and experimenting with rudimentary brewing equipment evolved into, “Let’s do a brewery,” Co-Owner Steve Treece said. The closest brewery at the time was Maumee Bay Brewing Company, and there were only about 25 in Ohio, Treece said.
Co-Owners Aaron Osborne, Alex Treece and Josh Heitkamp have been close friends ever since Van Buren High School and after college gathered in Findlay as brew enthusiasts, often at the West End Tavern. Co-Owners Steve Treece and Susan Treece (Alex’s parents) shared their interest and joined in on the fun. It was at the Treece’s house that the group experimented with brewery equipment, ingredients, and technique. They researched everything they could find and couldn’t help but continually upgrade equipment as their knowledge evolved.
“There was a lot of practice at my house,” Steve Treece said, laughing. “Sometimes making horrible beer that we couldn’t even drink.”
When Okada toured the original FBC, it was less than 900 square feet, comprised of a small bar with two seats, two standing tables, and a raised area in the window that “could fit maybe two people for live music.” There was a small hallway leading to the backroom where the 2-foot by 6-foot brewing system lived, with a sink, storage closet, restroom, tiny fermenting room and “janky” walk-in cooler, Osborne recalled. The brewery was about one-sixth of the size of FBC’s current facility, and it was always the co-owners and sometimes a few friends who “worked” when it was open.
“If 25 people were in there, it was pretty packed,” Osborne said. “We could only brew 10 gallons at a time, so we opened on Friday nights to sell a little bit of beer, and that was it. We were always giving tours and showing people around. If someone wanted to listen, I know any one of us would have been very happy to talk about craft brewing for a half hour, hour or longer without hardly thinking about it.”
FBC’s original location on North Main Street, opened in 2013, was about 900 square feet and only open on Fridays. The inset photo of the outside of the building was taken by Okada and appears on the OUR Brewing website, where he shares his story.
At FBC, Okada saw the power of beer to naturally connect people of all ages and races, “beer in hand.” He wanted to introduce the people of his hometown to a wide range of beer flavors and styles. Unlike brews he had known in Japan, Okada was intrigued by the wide variety found in American craft beer, a product that reflected the brewer’s personality and passion. Through years of practice, confidence in his craft had grown and finally, he and his business partner decided it was time to go for it.
“Starting a brewery felt crazy, especially in a small Japanese city, but that experience (at Findlay Brewing) really stayed with me,” Okada said. “That moment planted a seed for my dream. I wanted to create a brewery in my hometown that could bring people together in the same way. I had never been inside a brewery until that day – I liked beer, but that tour completely changed my life. It turned curiosity into passion.”
The Dream Becomes Reality
OUR Brewing opened in Fukui, Japan in 2024. Okada chose the name OUR Brewing because he “wanted it to belong to everyone involved – the staff, the customers, the farmers who grow the barley, and the artists who design our labels.” (Located in central Japan, Fukui’s population is about 253,000.) While chatting at the September reunion event in Fukui, Okada also shared with Keller and Gilroy that as he moved through the tour of FBC, each person would use the words, “at our brewery,” as they described their process. He loved their excitement coupled with the idea of a shared ownership, a place for everybody.
“For me, beer is not just a drink – it’s a social tool,” Okada said. “A good beer makes people talk, laugh and connect. At our taproom, we see strangers become friends every night. We host food pop-ups and collaborations with other breweries. I think we’re slowly achieving what we dreamed of – a place where community grows around a beer.”
Okada monitoring a brewing tank.
“It’s bold, a little wild, and proudly local,” Okada said.
Osborne and Treece asked the other co-owners of FBC, and no one can confirm they truly remember Okada coming through.
Steve Treece and Aaron Osborne, two of the five owners of FBC.
“I wish I could go back in time and observe that conversation,” Osborne said. “To know a conversation like that impacted someone, and then they took it back to where they’re from, and then they made changes in their entire life… We started our brewery because we enjoyed beer and wanted to engage the community, and to think he’s now doing that there and it impacted his life and is impacting more lives, it’s hard to think about. I love it.”
Treece added, “I love it, too. It wasn’t something we tried to do, but certainly it’s within the spirit of what we were trying to do, which was to share our love of craft beer. I’m so happy to hear about it.”
FBC’s current facility is about 6,000 square feet, with a staff of 52, indoor and outdoor seating, numerous large brewing tanks (brewing 500 gallons a round as compared to 10), distribution throughout Ohio, and a full calendar of events. At the old brewery they might sell some pretzels and chips, but today FBC features a chef-inspired menu and kitchen that serves a diverse selection and the best burger in town for several years, as voted by Findlay residents. Treece and Osborne love to hear reports of the FBC brand – t-shirts and car stickers – spotted in distant places, from the Virgin Islands to California to Maine.
At the Main Street location, the five co-owners split brewing responsibilities. After the move to Crawford Street in 2018, Osborne took leadership of FBC brewing, often with Co-Owner Josh Heitkamp assisting.
“His passion for brewing was higher; he took it to another level,” Treece said of Osborne.
Osborne trained the brewhouse staff to pick up the torch about a year and a half ago, but from 2012 until then, he brewed every week on Saturdays – a 9-hour endeavor.
I love brewing; it’s really relaxing to go back there and make some beer. For me, it’s such a nice process. It relaxes me.”
The bar features 24 taps and 21 of them are FBC brews, which are rotated. Over the years they have made hundreds of brews, always willing to entertain people’s ideas. Their No. 1 beer is the Brilliant City Blonde, named after Findlay’s first known brewery – Brilliant City Brewery – a community fixture circa 1875. Brilliant City was even briefly known as Findlay Brewing Company, Osborne said. Another of their beers, Great Karg, pays tribute to the historic well in Findlay that launched Ohio’s natural gas boom. Findlay was known as the “City of Light” – perhaps an inspiration for the Brilliant City moniker.
The owners of FBC – Front: Josh Heitcamp, Middle row: Alex Treece, Steeve Treece, Susan Treece. Top: Aaron Osborne.
United Under the Same Mission
Okada was able to sum up the journey into owning and operating a craft brewery in such a way that it connects OUR Brewing and Findlay Brewing Co. even from across the world.
“If something keeps coming back to your mind, it’s probably worth chasing,” he said. “It’s scary to leave stability behind, but passion has a way of creating its own path. Take the first step, as long as the risk is something you can handle.”
Osborne and Treece were struck by his words, pausing to let them sink in.
“Passion creating its own path – that’s exactly what happened with us,” Treece said.
Treece and Osborne said they would love to talk to Okada and possibly find a way to collaborate. Okada described Findlay as a warm and welcoming place, where there’s a strong sense of community. He has traveled to other places in the U.S. and Asia, but Findlay was special, “smaller and more personal, where people really take care of each other.” And he has a message for Findlay.
“I want to say thank you to the people of Findlay. My visit there changed my life, and OUR Brewing wouldn’t exist without that inspiration.
“I hope one day we can share a beer together again.”
Like the owners of FBC, Okada wanted to create a place where community grows – strangers become friends – around a beer. He achieved his dream, and hopes to share a beer with members of the Findlay community again one day.
