[Below] Taro introduces one of his sushi chefs as the guest judge of a roll challenge.
regularly which have roughly 30 people in each class, at three different locations! Seeing his story is so inspiring for other entrepreneurs out there wanting to pursue their dream. Knowing that he wasn’t handed anything, but worked hard alongside his family to get to where his is today is encouragement in and of itself.
Taro was asked to take the wheel of the family business because of his skill, hard work ethic, and at the very beginning, his ability to speak English. He took the opportunity his dad trusted him with and ran with it. Taro has helped take his family’s dream, which his parents started so many years ago, to the next level. And together they’ve built not only a prosperous restaurant franchise, but also a stellar business model of success and positivity for others to model their own after.
With great successes come great trials and tribulations. There was a point at the beginning where the restaurant had no fish because they couldn’t afford it—a huge
problem when you’re running a sushi bar! Now the journey has come so far that they get fresh fish flown in from Japan daily. When I had the pleasure of attending one of his classes, I got to drool over huge filets of Bluefin tuna, and the rarely presented and so delicious wild-caught salmon belly.
While he stood at the front of the class, delicately slicing angled cuts of his Bluefin steak with an exquisitely rare Yanagi knife (made from high carbon steel used to forge samurai swords and costs a small fortune), you could hear a pin drop as the class watched in reverent admiration. As they watched, hoping to learn enough to prove their skills to the chef, I couldn’t help but watch the sensei (teacher) himself. On his bright red jacket (Taro’s favorite color), embroidered over his heart, he proudly displays his truest title: CDO – Chief Dreaming Officer.