31 Designing the future at the sushi counter
Coming to Mr.O’s sushi restaurant as a regular gave me education.
I learned the history of sushi and sushi culture.
And later, when I started to design my own sushi class,
I kept coming back to what I had seen and heard there:
* The importance of rice, not just fish.
* The invisible labor and history behind each “simple” piece of nigiri.
* The way a counter becomes a place of conversation, not just consumption.
* And the quiet joy of being more than a guest—
of being part of an ongoing dialogue between chef and customer.
That’s why, in my own class,I don’t just teach people how to shape nigiri.
I tell them about akazu.
About how rice can carry stories.
About how a small change in vinegar connects them to two hundred years of sushi tradition.
In that sense, my time with Mr. O didn’t just upgrade my technique.
It quietly upgraded the future shape of my sushi class:
Small.
Personal.
Rooted in history.
And built around the same thing that made that Aoyama counter so special to me—
a strip of wood between us,
rice seasoned with red vinegar,
and a story that travels
from one pair of hands to another.