25 – Sushi Bars: Tokyo’s Quiet Status Symbol for CEOs

In Tokyo, there is a curious pattern you hear about again and again:

When a CEO becomes truly successful,

he doesn’t always buy a yacht or a sports car.

He opens… a sushi bar.

It doesn’t matter if his main business is IT, recruiting, or e-commerce.

Somehow, CEO life and sushi counters seem to go hand in hand.

Why?

Because in Japan, high-end sushi restaurants are the perfect stage for business dinners.

For most Japanese people, a luxury sushi counter is a special space.

It’s not everyday life.

You sit at the counter.

The chef stands right in front of you, watching over you—but never intruding.

He pays close attention: your pace, your reactions, your preferences.

At the same time, he keeps just enough distance so that you can talk business freely.

Deals are discussed between pieces of toro.

The counter becomes both a dining table and a negotiation table.

If you keep using sushi bars for important meetings, sooner or later a thought arises:

“What if I had my own sushi place?”

So some CEOs do exactly that.

They sign a lease, build a small, stylish restaurant, hire a skilled sushi chef, and turn it into their personal base for meetings and celebrations.

They can host clients and partners there.

It was in one of those CEO-owned sushi bars in Aoyama

that I first met the sushi chef who would change the way I think about sushi:

Mr.O