WIT Life #195: Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Film, Food & Drink, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life, Writers 
Comments Off on WIT Life #195: Jiro Dreams of Sushi
WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
This weekend I finally had the chance to see the much-hyped documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It made a splash at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and had been on my radar ever since, so I was happy to see it playing at local theaters (currently at IFC Center, Lincoln Plaza Cinema and Kew Gardens Cinema). Director David Gelb is a New Yorker who has loved sushi since he was a kid, and his film faithfully follows 85-year-old sushi chef Jiro Ono, proprietor of the renowned restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro. Its humble location inside the Ginza subway station belies the exquisiteness of the sushi produced within. Ono’s work is extremely simple, yet it possesses complexity of taste as well as aesthetic beauty. As the title indicates, this shokunin (or craftsman) eats, sleeps and breathes sushi, and even after all his years of mastering this art form he believes there is still room to grow.
I liked how Gelb incorporates different aspects of the sushi world, such as Ono’s exclusive rice seller, fish handlers at the Tsukiji Fish Market, and the incredibly devoted apprentices at the restaurant, all with distinctive personalities that add an additional layer to the story. However, it is the family dynamics at the heart of this doc that will capture viewers’ interest. Ono has two sons, older Yoshikazu who works alongside his father, and younger Takashi who works as the sushi chef at Sukiyabashi Jiro’s spin-off branch at Roppongi Hills. I wanted to learn more about Takashi and his separate path, but the movie mainly focuses on Ono’s relationship with Yoshizaku, the apparent successor to his father. Considering that Ono is a living legend, this is a prospect that Yoshikazu regards with a combination of resignation and trepidation.
Not that Ono is considering stepping down anytime soon. He is still working full time at the restaurant, though he admits that all the hard work is done in the kitchen, allowing the fish to be “95% ready” by the time it comes to him. Considering that Ono has been honing his craft since childhood, it only seems fair that he gets all the glory.
Comments are closed.