Tokyo’s top female sushi chefs

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Tokyo

At the start of the year, Sushi Meino, a six-seat sushi restaurant in Tokyo’s upscale Azabu-Juban neighbourhood, was featured in a popular Japanese documentary TV series. The star of the show was Mei Kougo, a 34-year-old sushi chef and sommelier who had just opened her own restaurant after a decade of training.

“It felt like the best time for me to set out on my own,” Kougo said in the programme as she explained her decision to open shop where she serves only a ¥50,000 ($330/£260) omakase menu.

In a country famous for its master chefs, from Jiro Ono in Ginza to Takayoshi Yamaguchi in the outskirts of Kanazawa, Kougo stands out for a simple reason: she is a woman — one who is aspiring to cement her own style of sushi-making.

The craft of sushi-making has historically been dominated by men. Government data shows only 5.5 per cent out of 10,628 sushi restaurant owners were female in 2021. Bias is also deeply embedded in the society to such an extent that people long believed in the myth that women were not fit for making sushi because their hands were too warm. Because the vast majority of sushi chefs are men, even a sushi counter is often designed to best serve a man’s height, making it inconvenient for smaller female chefs.

Bias, however, is not the only reason hindering women from becoming sushi chefs. Takeshi Mori, the 57-year-old owner of Sushi Take in Yoyogi Uehara, says the job of a sushi chef is physically strenuous since it involves far more than making sushi. A trainee would be required to do a whole range of preparations, from cleaning the restaurant and washing the large cutting boards to making rice. The day starts early with a visit to the fish market, which involves not only the sophisticated skill of being able to find the right fish but also the strength to carry them in an ice-filled box that usually weighs about 20 kilos.

“There is a labour shortage in the food industry, so I wish there were more female sushi chefs but I don’t necessarily feel that the number is increasing,” Mori said. “It’s a combination of both prejudice and physical labour that are posing hurdles.”

It is still quite a challenge to find restaurants in Tokyo run by a female sushi chef. But here are a few that are worth checking out, not only to try the traditional Japanese delicacy but also to meet the women who have broken through the glass ceiling and mastered the art of making delicious sushi.

Edo-mae Mimatsu

1-6-5 Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0032

• Good for: Tourists, as there is an English menu 

• Not so good for: Those looking for an upscale sushi experience

• FYI: The chef is also a jazz singer, so you may be able to see her perform if you are lucky

• Opening times: Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Friday, 5pm–10pm; Saturday–Sunday, 12pm–3pm and 5pm–9pm

• Website; Directions 

Even if you know nothing about fish and do not speak a word of Japanese, you will immediately feel at home when you enter this casual sushi restaurant at the heart of the Asakusa district. A decade ago, Yukiko Okuzumi took over the restaurant founded by her father in 1958 after he suffered a stroke. On the day her father was carried to the hospital in an ambulance, she told him not to worry because she had decided to take over as sushi chef.

In the early days, customers would enter and stare at the rare sight of a woman standing at the counter. “They often told me that it was the first time for them to eat sushi made by a woman,” Okuzumi says.

For Okuzumi, she was more or less destined to become a sushi chef from a young age and had been trained by her father from her mid-thirties to make Edomae sushi, one of most well-known styles of sushi, which originally referred to the various ingredients such as salt and vinegar that were used to preserve fresh seafood caught “in front of Edo”, or Tokyo Bay.

While there are many expensive sushi restaurants in the city with a fixed course selected by the chef, Okuzumi prefers a more casual style where customers can choose the fish they like and eat them in the order that they prefer. The most popular dish is kohada, a silver-skinned fish that is marinated in vinegar. Once you order your choice, Okuzumi is quick to deliver even as she chatters away cheerfully with customers.

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Sushi Yuko

3-18-6 Asakusa, Taito-ku Tokyo 111-0032

• Good for: Those who like original and stylish sushi

• Not so good for: Anyone who doesn’t have a reservation 

• FYI: If you can’t get a reservation, try Sushi Haru in Kaminakazato, which is run by Yuko Suzuki’s father

• Opening times: Tuesday–Wednesday, 5.30pm to 10pm (reservations only) 

• Website; Directions 

We are once again in the same area of Asakusa but you will not immediately recognise that you have entered a sushi restaurant. That is because Yuko Suzuki, a 40-year-old chef, shares the kitchen space of a French restaurant, which operates on the days she does not serve sushi. Although her father is also a sushi chef, Suzuki only followed in his footsteps when she reached her mid-thirties, training at an upscale restaurant in Ebisu. Eventually, she plans to take over her father’s restaurant in Kaminakazato, but for now, she wants to try her own craft. Her omakase menu is set at ¥7,500 ($50/£39), a price she feels is affordable enough for a customer to try her dishes once about every two months.

As a chef, Suzuki says she never felt disadvantaged because she was a woman. In practical terms, some restaurants are not used to accepting female trainees so she warns that they may not have smaller-sized uniforms or changing rooms for women. “But in terms of making sushi, I never felt that there was any difference because of gender,” Suzuki says. Her menu is original, with exquisite sushi served each time on a small plate. Her best-known dish is temakizushi, a type of sushi you make yourself by rolling dried seaweed over rice and bonito flakes. As her restaurant operates only twice a week and she works mostly at her father’s establishment, it is best to reserve months in advance.

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Wakana Sushi 

4-25-8 Nagasaki, Toshima-ku Tokyo 171-0051

• Good for: Those who like large-sized sushi

• Not so good for: If you want to come with a group of friends

• FYI: The chef often sets aside evening hours for regulars, so it is better to go for lunch for your first visit

• Opening times: Wednesday–Monday, noon–3pm and 5pm–8pm

• Website; Directions 

At 82 years old, Sachiko Shimizu is likely the oldest self-taught female sushi chef in Japan. Her restaurant is located near the Higashi-Nagasaki station on the Seibu Ikebukuro line, an area of Tokyo you are unlikely to visit unless you lived there. And yet long queues of young foreign tourists form outside her tiny shop during lunchtime after footage of her making sushi went viral on social media last summer.

Shimizu was introduced to the world of sushi-making after marrying her husband, who had opened a restaurant in Tokyo during the mid-1960s. While women were discouraged from standing behind a sushi counter in those days, her husband actively persuaded Shimizu to learn the art because he believed it would allow her to earn a living to raise their three children. Since his death 17 years ago, Shimizu has been running the restaurant on her own, following her husband’s original advice.

“I’m too old to be making sushi but people tell me it’s so good, so I’m pushing myself to continue,” said Shimizu, who was wearing her signature headscarf and white apron. Her omakase course comes with nine pieces of sushi and tamagoyaki (egg roll) at a surprisingly attractive price of ¥2,500 ($16.50/£13) but it is very filling since her fish is cut large. There are only seven seats and her restaurant often closes at 8pm, so make sure to go early. Once she closes her restaurant, she is busy preparing ingredients for the next day. Shimizu, who spends her limited free time with her five great-grandchildren, said: “I’ll keep on doing this as long as my energy lasts.”

Have you dined at a Tokyo sushi restaurant helmed by a female chef? Tell us about it in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter