30- The secret of Akazu(red vinegar)
Around 10 percent of sushi restaurants in Tokyo use Akazu(Red vinegar).
There was also a practical element:
Red vinegar (Akazu)takes more time and effort to produce than regular white vinegar.
Naturally, that makes it more expensive.
For high-end sushi restaurants,
this became a meaningful advantage:
* It gave them a way to connect with tradition.
* It allowed them to create a more complex, grown-up flavor in their rice.
* And it offered a logical reason to price their sushi at a premium.
Listening to Mr. O explain this across the counter,
I realized that what he was teaching me wasn’t just “rice trivia.”
He was showing me how history, culture, economics, and flavor
all meet in a single bite of nigiri.
Akazu(Red vinegar) wasn’t just a seasoning.
It was a story—
about Edo, about fear, about forgetting, and about returning.
On the surface, you might see a glamorous CEO-owned restaurant,
beautiful interior, and a stylish logo.
But behind the counter, there is always a craftsman like Mr. O,
carrying decades of experience in his hands,
choosing something like akazu not just for taste,but for what it means.
Tokyo Sushi Academy gave me tools and theory.
Becoming a regular at Mr. O’s counter gave me nuance, depth, and respect.