[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="108"]<a href="http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/files/2012/08/Sushi.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="  " src="http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/files/2012/08/Sushi.jpg" alt="" width="108" height="108" /></a> Jiro Ono (http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/files/2012/08/Sushi.jpg)[/caption]

This is a film directed by David Gelb and was a Featured Documentary Official Selection in the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival World Documentary category (“TribecaFilm.com”).  It tells the story of (now) 86 year old Jiro Ono and his sushi restaurant, すきやばし 次郎 (Sukiyabashi Jiro) which is located in the basement of an office building in Tokyo.  If one wants to eat at this establishment, it requires a reservation at least one month in advance.  Some people plan vacations around Jiro’s sushi and make reservations a year or more in advance.  In addition, the minimum cost of a meal is ¥30,000 yen which is $358.49 dollars as of this writing; that does not include drinks.

Jiro, mainly due to neglect, left home at the unbelievably young age of nine years old and began an apprenticeship at a sushi restaurant.  His original goal was to not live under a bridge.  His primary goal quickly became perfect and improve his craft ever since then.  He says that it is necessary to fall in love one’s chosen profession in order to be happy.  He has relentlessly pursued that goal for 75 years, sometimes to the detriment of his family.  He recounts the story of one Sunday morning when he had taken the morning off and was sleeping in.  One of his children went to their mother and reported that, “there is a strange man sleeping in your bed!”

There are significant differences between the Japanese culture and ours.  In the United States, we are dedicated and proponents of pursuing one’s own goals and dreams.  In Japan, the culture and tradition is that your future is predestined by other factors; in this case the father’s profession.  Jiro said that, “I allowed my children to graduate from high school.”  After that, he required his children to become his apprentices.  After high school, college was not an option for Jiro’s sons.

Another difference in culture is seen in the fact that Jiro pushed his younger, Takashi, son out of Jiro’s service to open his own restaurant, while his oldest son, Yoshikazu, remains at his father’s restaurant.  In the United States, that appears to be an insult to the oldest son; as if Jiro has more confidence in his youngest son.  In addition, here in the United States, we would probably push all of our children out to succeed on their own, or they would chafe under such a long subordinate position in the family business.  In Japan, that is just the way things are.  The oldest son inherits the father’s legacy while the younger children do not have that opportunity.

In the beginning, I found myself interpreting the facial expressions of everyone in the film from my Western perspective.  As the movie progressed, I began to come to terms with the differences in culture and expectations.  What I originally saw as stoic unhappiness in Yoshikazu’s face I became to understand was actually a peaceful affirmation of their customs.

There are no special secret recipes or practices in Jiro’s practices ~ simply a dedication to good taste and perfection.  They use only the best ingredients and a persistent quest for perfection.  For example, they massage their octopus for almost an hour so that it isn’t chewy or tough.  In their mind there is nothing particularly special in what they do.  They attribute much of their success in their ingredients.  They buy all of their ingredients from specialists in their field; their tuna vendor only sells tuna, and so on.  All of the vendors they use are also family businesses handed down from father to son.

Surprisingly, more than one customer said that Jiro’s rice was a critical component to his sushi.  I didn’t understand exactly what was so special about their rice, but their vendor refused to sell the type of rice that Jiro uses to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo because he did not think they would be able to do it justice.

As I watched Jiro and his apprentices create this artistic food, I wanted to taste it, but I knew that I did not have the palate to appreciate it.  For example, they serve three grades of tuna; toro, choturo and akami.  The toro and choturo are what Westerners generally prefer.  Akami is the leanest cut and the prettiest.  It looks like a red ruby glistening on top of the rice.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="306"]<a href="http://www.silveremulsion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jirodreamsofsushi1.jpg"><img class="  " src="http://www.silveremulsion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jirodreamsofsushi1.jpg" alt="" width="306" height="168" /></a> http://www.silveremulsion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jirodreamsofsushi1.jpg[/caption]

Jiro is the oldest chef to ever be awarded 3 Michelin stars.  According to the Michelin website, “Three stars reward exceptional cuisine where diners eat extremely well, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey.”  Poignantly, Jiro was not the chef who actually prepared the sushi that the Michelin reviewers ate; Yoshikazu did.



I could appreciate the the beauty of their creations and the effort involved.  I watch the Food Channel on a fairly regular basis and I’ve never wanted to make the effort to go somewhere for what I was seeing, but now I want to go to Tokyo.  As a reflection of my Western bias though, I’d rather eat sushi prepared by Yoshikazu than Jiro.

I enjoyed this glimpse into a different culture, especially since I wasn’t expecting that.  I thought it was going to be a regular movie; a drama.  When it started out as a documentary, I kept expecting to see behind the scenes and get the “real” insight.  It turned out to be a real documentary and it was about more than raw fish.  It was culture, history and human interactions aka ~ Humanities.

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<p style="text-align: center">Works Cited</p>
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"TribecaFilm.com|Film Guide Archive|Jiro Dreams of Sushi." TribecaFilm.com. Tribeca Enterprises, LLC, n.d. Web. 16 Dec 2012. &lt;http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/jiro_dreams_of_sushi-film36081.html&gt;