Issue 52 | 5 Minutes with Naoko & Tim Blake, Nicao

INTERVIEW BY JACINTA SONJA / WHAT’S ON
PHOTOS BY HARUNA OKU & JACINTA SONJA

Meet Naoko and Tim Blake, the husband-and-wife duo behind nicao Chocolate, have combined their diverse backgrounds to create exceptional bean-to-bar chocolate made in Niseko. Naoko, a chocolate lover and homemaker, and Tim, a physical trainer with an engineering background in the automotive industry, bring their passion, precision, and creativity to crafting high-quality, delicious, ethically sourced chocolate. What began as small-batch creations has since grown to be sold in major locations throughout Niseko and Hokkaido.

Can you share a bit about your background and how you first became interested in calligraphy?

Yoko Arano (YA): I was born in 1933 in Kitami City, Hokkaido. When I was 4 years old, my father went to war. He died in 1939 when I was 6. In 1940, my mother enrolled in a nursing school in Sapporo, and the same year, I started Junior High School in Sapporo. My mother graduated with a national nursing certification in 1941 and worked as a nurse in Sapporo.

My mother suggested that I attend calligraphy classes as she thought a professional calligraphy qualification would enable me to get a good job in the future. It was in the autumn of 1940 that I first started calligraphy lessons. During the war, I was not able to continue calligraphy lessons, so I practised on my own. When I was 17, I met some friends who were also practising calligraphy and we started doing calligraphy together.

When did you move to Kutchan?

YA: We moved from Otaru to Kutchan in 1957, where I met music teacher Tamotsu Arano. We got married when I was 23. 

What was life like back then?

YA: I had a busy life – I had to walk 3 km to and from a place where I was doing some work daily, in between taking care of the family, sewing, cooking and doing housework. I was also taking Kado (the art of flower arrangement) and Sado (the art of tea ceremony) lessons in the evenings.

What do you consider to be the pivotal point in your calligraphy journey?

YA: I took up calligraphy again in 1961 after my two sons were born (1958 and 1959). I formed a calligraphy group with two other women so that we could come together and practice. 

In 1962, we decided to enter the Hokkaido Calligraphy Exhibition. It was our first entry and all three of us ended up winning prizes. Thereafter, I decided to take calligraphy a little more seriously. Every Monday, after some housework, I would practice from 9:00 – 12:00 with the group. We have been participating in the exhibition every year for the past 62 years. Every year, we would send in our works for the selection process for the exhibition, though my work was not selected a couple of times.

When did you start teaching calligraphy?

YA: I started a calligraphy school in 1970 and taught kids calligraphy. I had about 30 students, each paid 200 yen. I made about 6,000 yen each month. I’ve been teaching for about 53 years now, my classes continue to this day. Some of the kids I taught before are now over 50–60 years old. 

Who was your greatest inspiration in calligraphy?

YA: I have been inspired by many of my teachers, thugh they weren’t calligraphy teachers. I had a lot of respect for them. I was inspired by their strength and their personalities. I had an uncle (my mother’s brother) who did calligraphy. His style was so free, and it left a deep impression on me. I still remember his work very clearly. His work was at such a high level that I am constantly humbled and inspired at the same time.

How did you develop your style of calligraphy?

YA: During the war, there was a lot of propaganda and there was no freedom. I wanted to express freedom in my calligraphy. It was the struggle that also gave me power. 

You started nicao in 2016; it’s been 8 years! Tell us about your journey so far.

Naoko Blake (NB): It started as a hobby—something I could do at home while looking after our sons. I loved having dark chocolate after dinner, and one day I wondered, “How is chocolate made, and what is it made of?” After some research, I stumbled upon an IT guy who had the same interest and curiosity, and he learned how to make chocolate from scratch. So, I thought, “If he can do it, I could too.”

Tell me about the first batches of chocolate you made.

Tim Blake (TB): There was a lot of trial and error.. a lot of errors [laughs]. We ground some store-bought cacao nibs and sugar in a table-top melanger, and it was pretty much inedible. We realised that we needed to source high-quality cacao beans.

Where were your original beans from?

NB: We bought a bag of cacao beans from the Dominican Republic and roasted them in a small roaster we had bought and made the first nicao chocolates. Our first retailer was Sprout Outdoor Espresso, in Kutchan. 

However, the wholesaler suddenly stopped selling the Dominican Republic beans. We switched to Ecuador but the same thing happened again. So we realised that we needed to find a consistent supply.

How did you find the current cacao supplier?

NB: I went to a marketplace hosted by a US organisation at the time, where buyers and sellers could meet. That was where I found a small, independent, family-owned farm in Guatemala.

What was it that intrigued you about them?

NB: The size of the farm and its history. They had abundant farmland. The father of the current owner passed away 20 years ago, and the farmland was left unattended. The farm had since been revived, and they were looking for cacao buyers.

TB: After that meeting, they sent us a bag of beans, we roasted them up and made a batch.

NB: And it was amazing. 

Have you been getting your cacao from this same supplier ever since?

NB: Yes, and we’ve built a really good working relationship. We may even become their Japanese distributor. Besides the unroasted beans, we also buy cacao powder and cacao butter from them. We use cacao butter in our chocolate to make it flow more easily, and we also use it to make white chocolate. The cacao powder has also led us to create products like whey protein powder and hot chocolate mix.

It’s great that you work directy with the source.

TB: Yes, we see ourselves as partners, not just customers. As we all know, there’s a dark underbelly to the chocolate world. Cheap cacao beans often come at a cost. This farm operates ethically—they care about the staff and the quality of the product.

What was the one big step in the development of your chocolates?
TB: During Covid, we had more time on our hands, so we learned how to temper chocolate from a guy named John Nanci, a pioneer in bean-to-bar chocolate making. Tempering the chocolate helped give it that “snap” and “shine”. It also made it shelf-stable, so we were able to make better-quality products and expand our product range.

Is it difficult to maintain the consistency in flavour in every batch? 

TB: Not really. Since we get both our beans and cacao butter from the same source, it keeps the flavour consistent. 

How did you create the different flavours?

TB: We decided to base our chocolate range on the same beans from the Guatemala farm and add ingredients from Hokkaido. For example, the Chilli Sea Salt flavour uses Niseko dried chilli, Hokkaido sea salt, and Kagoshima cane sugar. The Milk Chocolate uses Hokkaido milk and Hokkaido beet sugar. We use coffee from Sprout Outdoor Espresso for our Espresso bars, and ginger from Hakko Ginger, in Kutchan, for the Hakko Ginger bars. There’s something from Hokkaido in every single bar.

What makes nicao different?

NB: We handcraft our chocolates in small batches. We do use machines, but we do a lot by hand as well. We also use many ingredients from Hokkaido. For example, last year we started making chocolates with grapes and apples from Niki-cho, near Yoichi. We make all our chocolates in our small workshop in Niseko. We’re now a team of three, including Sayuri Nakatani.

What are some of the unique flavours that you’ve created?

NB: The Chilli and Sea Salt bar sounds like an odd combination, but it works! We also have to mention our white chocolate bar—it’s the most “Hokkaido” product we make, with 65% of the ingredients coming from here. It’s not too sweet–just deliciously rich and creamy. I also love the chocolate barks (slabs) with different toppings that we make.

Which flavour do you recommend to someone trying nicao for the first time?

NB: The 9-piece taster pack! It lets you sample a variety of flavours. It’s available at Niseko View Plaza, Lawson Hirafu and Sansui Niseko. 

What’s the best way to enjoy nicao chocolate?

NB: Some people like it with wine, whiskey, coffee, or on its own. Even a small piece can be satisfying, thanks to the depth of flavour.

From chocolate bars, you now have hot chocolate mix and, more recently, ice cream in your product range. What’s next for nicao?

NB: We will be launching a cacao snack called ‘Otsu’, inspired by ‘Otsukaresama’, in December. It contains roasted cacao beans, grapes from Niki, and mixed nuts from Pyram Organics in Kutchan. It’s a healthy outdoor snack and pairs wonderfully with wine or whiskey. Plus, it’s vegan too. Do look out for it!

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