Yeah it's somewhere in the middle of being blind and actually doing the scouting himself. But that's the point really, we can't point the finger solely at the scouts. Robin's clearly states he has a look and gets a feel for the player.
So he's looked at Sakamoto and thought to himself, he's a decent player (which he is) and he'll slot in nicely into my squad (which he doesn't).
I believe he was their overseas scout for over 10years so yes I’m sure he was responsible for the first team and not the manager at the time.
Incidentally look at their overseas players a number sold on for millions.