Interviews

1. Japanese Culture and the crafting Sushi in the States (Japanese)

2. The Road to Success As a Sushi Chef (Japanese)

3. Making Sushi and Enjoying Life (Japanese)

4. Raising a Golden Egg (Japanese)

Toshihiko Seki

(n. 1962) Sushi Chef

Making Sushi and Enjoying Life (Japanese)

(Japanese) My grandfather was an oil painting artist in Japan. As I make sushi, I wonder if I might have inherited his artistic sense of color. When I’m making sushi it’s interesting, but also really thrilling. I enjoy making sushi, anticipating how the end result will look.

food Japanese food sushi United States

Date: September 10, 2009

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Izumi Tanaka

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Born 1962 in Tokyo. Moved to America in 1981. Initially worked in a San Diego restaurant making sushi and helping in the kitchen. Moved to the East Coast in 1987 after receiving notice of a job opening in New York. He then moved to Connecticut in 1990 to support a friend opening a new restaurant. He became opened his own restaurant in 1997, and as his business grew, it became the top-rated restaurant in the New England area by ZAGAT. In 2006, he decided to return to Los Angeles for his wife in child, and started a sushi catering business while also working as a sushi chef for other restaurants. He has also taken the grand prize at several sushi competitions. In 2008 he opened “Toshi Sushi” in Little Tokyo. (December 2009)

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