Sushi Chef: Noboru Nakajima

Wednesday, 16 November 2011 20:50

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What’s globalism? Ideally, it would be when two or more cultures could blend seamlessly together, but in the real world, it’s not that simple. Each culture has to compromise something. When people talk about culture, it’s really abstract. But one chef in a Tucson-area restaurant deals with compromise every day.

Noboru wants to break down big walls through his skills of making sushi at his own restaurant, Yamato. These walls are built based on cultural differences. His task is hard but he never stops trying. He keeps learning.

He studied everything about sushi in Japan. So, when he came to America, he was confused. In Japan, sushi meant fish. It was important to use good fish. But he saw many Americans looking for something else.

“Most Americans order Makizushi (rolled sushi). Especially, in Tucson, most people can’t eat fresh fish. They don’t know about fish as much as Japanese do. For Japanese, sushi is not something that they eat very often. But Americans do. It’s just different, and I just need to make everyone happy with my skills.”

He never gives up. Although it’s hard to keep what he learned in Japan, he still tries to do everything in a Japanese way. For example, he buys special rice – the shortest and thickest. He calls it the best sushi rice. He knows a special network to buy it. It’s very difficult to buy in America.

And that’s why many customers say, “Noboru is the best.” His restaurant has an extremely loyal customer base. There was a family in the restaurunt, and for the father, Yamato has been his favorite restaurant for a very long time.

“I don’t think I can do it much longer,” Noboru said. “But I love Tucson. It’s so much fun to make sushi in Tucson. If I’m lucky enough, I’d like to teach my skills to someone. But the training will be very hard.”

He smiled and kept making sushi.

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