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Sushi That Doesn’t End in Tokyo: How One Class Became a Family Tradition One of the happiest parts of running my family-friendly sushi class in Tokyo is hearing from past guests after they go home. This is the story of Philip, a retired caterer owner, and how one afternoon in my kitchen turned into a new family tradition. Philip and his family at my sushi class in Tokyo — the starting point of their new sushi journey.   Philip is a retired caterer owner who joined my Tokyo sushi making class with his family during a trip to Japan. When I first welcomed them into my kitchen and heard about his background, I’ll be honest — I was stunned. At […]

That night confirmed what my heart already knew. My choice to run small, private classes was not just a branding decision.It was a practical conclusion drawn from lived experience: One chef can only give full attention to a small group. Attention is what transforms a class into a memory. And memories are what people actually come to Tokyo for. In big group classes,you can hide.You can let others ask the questions.You can go home having “done” the experiencewithout really being seen. In a private class with six or eight people,you cannot hide. You are asked to touch the rice, feel the weight of the fish,shape the nigiri with your own hands. You are also seen—by me,by the people you came […]

The opening party also exposed my weaknesses very clearly. As I tried to serve everyone in a reasonable rhythm,I realized: My hands were still too slow. At Tokyo Sushi Academy, I had hit the target in the exam room—18 pieces in three minutes, all the same size.But exam speed and real-life hosting are not the same game. In the classroom, I wasn’t just shaping nigiri. I was: Answering questions Explaining ingredients Checking if everyone’s rice looked okay Watching for who needed help with hand movements Adjusting the pace so no one felt left behind or left out Every second I spent talking or demonstratingwas a second I wasn’t shaping. I went home from that party exhausted—but also grateful. Because now […]

The room itself was tiny. When all eight friends sat down,it felt almost cramped.Elbows nearly touching, bags tucked under chairs,people shifting slightly to make space as I moved around the table. From a real estate brochure perspective,it would have been a negative point. But from the perspective of a host,it was perfect. It forced us to be close.It made conversation natural.It turned a “room” into a shared experience. In that tight space, I could see every face.I could notice who was nervous about using their hands,who was already reaching for the wasabi,who was quietly concentrating on the rice. I realized something that night: All those years I had chosen to do private tours rather than big group tours—it wasn’t just […]

For the opening party of my new classroom,I knew I wanted to do one thing:invite friends to sit where future guests would sit,and test everything as if it were real. Eight friends came.That number was not random. Through Christmas catering and private parties,I had already learned something important: One sushi chef can truly “hold” about eight people at a time. Any more than that, and cracks start to appear: Guests have to wait too long for each piece. The temperature and texture of the sushi drift away from ideal. The chef becomes too busy with his hands to truly look at each guest’s face. I had seen the same truth play out in high-end sushi restaurants in Tokyo: Small spaces. […]

By the end of 2022, the pieces were finally starting to come together. In December, a friend asked me to cater his Christmas party.It was the first time I stood in front of a group, not just as “Kenji the guide” or “Kenji the photographer,”but as someone who was there to serve sushi with his own hands. A month later, in January 2023, I signed the lease for the small room next door to my apartment—the room that would become my first classroom. On February 1st, 2023, I officially opened my sushi class to guests.And in March, after passing my final exam at Tokyo Sushi Academy,I received my diploma and graduated. On paper, that is the timeline:2022 December – catering.2023 […]

  When you sit at my counter or stand at my kitchen island during class,you might not see all of this history. You see a tray of fish.You see rice, wasabi, a sharp knife.You see me smiling and saying, “Let’s make sushi together.” But behind each piece of nigiri I hand you,there are: Years of structured training Hundreds of hours of practice A final exam that many professionals would prefer not to take And a personal commitment not to rely on “vibes,”but on repeatable technique There may be no official government license that says“this person is a sushi chef.” So instead, I let my training, my discipline,and your own experience at my classspeak on my behalf. Every time I shape […]

As more graduates started opening successful sushi bars,the old story—“you must train at least three years before you’re worth anything”—began to crack. People started to ask: “Is it really the length of time that matters?Or is it the quality and intensity of the training?” Tokyo Sushi Academy answered that question with something very simple,and very unforgiving: Exams. Not fluffy, symbolic tests.Brutal, practical, measurable exams. There’s even a saying in the industry that: The final test at Tokyo Sushi Academy is tougherthan the promotion exam for managers at a major sushi chain. I don’t know if that’s 100% provable—but I can tell you what the test felt like in my own hands. One of the graduation requirements was this: In 3 […]

For decades, the common story in Japan went like this:3 years before you’re allowed to cook rice properly.5 years before you can even think about sushi rice.A lifetime to “truly” learn how to shape nigiri. Behind the romantic image of the stern master and the loyal apprentice,there was a harsher reality:Endless hours of work in the kitchenVery little structured teachingBeing shouted at more often than being taughtLow pay, few days off, and almost no clear path forward Under those conditions, fewer and fewer young people wanted to become sushi chefs.The industry was slowly starving itself of new talent.The founder of Tokyo Sushi Academy, where I studied, saw this as a real danger. He believed the problem wasn’t that young people […]

Guests often ask me a simple, honest question: “Do you need some kind of official license to be a sushi chef?” The short answer is: no, there is no special national license just for sushi chefs in Japan. There is a general qualification called a “chōrishi” (cook’s license), which applies to all kinds of cooks. But even that is not legally required to open or run a restaurant.From a regulatory point of view, the government cares far more about whether the kitchen and equipment are hygienic and safe than about whether the chef holds a particular piece of paper. So if there is no mandatory license,what actually tells you whether a sushi chef is trustworthy? For me, the answer begins […]