03INSPIRATION

The pursuit of ever greater heights, no matter how incremental the progress, is at the heart of Japanese craftsmanship. And Mitsuhiro Araki identifies, above all, as an artisan. “I’m a craftsman first and foremost, and to succeed in sushi I think you have to be one.”

This is an all-encompassing commitment. “[Being an artisan means] your knifes should be clean, your uniform spotless, your workspace in order. Eliminate waste, minimize decoration, and serve sushi that is both simple and palatable; this allows your guests to concentrate on the experience.”

But craft alone is not enough. For Araki, serving sushi is a form of performance art. “I think of myself and my team as actors, and my restaurant as a stage.”

“The eyes of our guests are always on us, forcing us to be conscious of everything we do—how we speak, move, breathe. The ability to endure that gaze is crucial. In my experience, whether a guest leaves satisfied essentially comes down to how well we perform our roles.”

As the protagonist, Araki keeps a constant eye on his audience. “Omakase sushi is all about tailoring the food you serve to each guest. You take in whatever you can glean from a guest’s appearance and demeanor, and aim to have them enjoy the meal and have a good time all the way to the last bite. There’s nothing more devastating than having a guest asking me to stop before I’ve served the last dish.”

What truly sets Araki apart is his recognition of the razor-thin line between failure and perfection. Fate has a way of intervening in the schemes of even the most skilled and well-prepared. “That’s why not taking anything for granted is the most important thing when running a sushi restaurant. I hope for success, I pray for it. And to achieve it, I never stop questioning myself—look back at what I did in a day, how I conducted myself, and seek to improve.”

Mitsuhiro Araki became the best by learning from the best. And now he’s committing himself to passing on the centuries-old Edomae tradition.

“I’ve been studying seafood brokers all my career, seeking to understand how they evaluate the product and pick out the best fish. Part of it is information you can write down. The other part is intuition—something that stems from decades of experience.”

And as with learning how to appraise fish, the ability to turn the finest product into world-class sushi is one unlocked only through single-minded determination. “You need practice, practice, practice— there’s no other way.”

Araki is known for letting his apprentices put in the hours handling high-end fish from early on. “When you work with great ingredients every day, it gets a lot easier to tell when something isn’t up to standard.”

Training the next generation of sushi chefs is a pursuit Araki takes extremely seriously—and one he says starts with the right mindset. “I have to be happy to be able to pass on tradition, to teach others how to do what I do. Unless I’m satisfied with myself first, trying to satisfy others feels hypocritical. So I do everything in my power to eliminate distractions, the things that stress me out.”

One way Araki avoids disappointment is by sourcing only the best seafood. “Being in a position to never compromise on ingredients is a blessing,” he says. “That comes with a cost, of course—I never haggle with my suppliers, because the moment you do that they take their business elsewhere—but one I’m more than happy to pay.”

Hadate uni has been at the top of Araki’s list of go-to ingredients since his time in Hong Kong. “I realized that many sushi aficionados over there value uni as highly as tuna,” he says, “so I was determined to serve them the best available. That turned out to be Hadate.”

“The most remarkable thing about Hadate is how they’re able to provide uniformly great product year-round. Every piece in every box is shapely, just dry enough, and delicious. You just don’t get that with other ingredients, not even tuna.”

Sourcing the best ingredients and elevating them further. Drawing on centuries-old wisdom for innovation in the present. Staying the same through constant change. This is the Edomae way; the essence Araki has dedicated his life to preserving. [QUOTE – WHAT IS EDOMAE FOR ARAKI]

If Mitsuhiro Araki has a credo, it is onko chishin—looking to the past for new insight. His Akasaka restaurant is a conspicuous expression of this philosophy.

The modestly sized main dining room, centered on a counter crafted out of a single piece of 250- year-old hinoki cypress wood, is designed to evoke the minimal aesthetics of the tea ceremony. A central bonsai tree and a pair of woodblock prints anchor the room in centuries of Japanese cultural heritage.

But these items are more than décor: they express wishes, hopes, dreams—Araki’s ideal version of his inner world.

The auditory world of the restaurant, too, conveys inner peace. Carefully concealed hi-fi speakers and doors that slide shut silently conjure up a soundscape designed to never be noticed.

The past is present in subtle details. A plate of 1,000-year-old cedar wood with Araki’s name on it is a memento from the chef’s first own restaurant. The square copper pan he uses was once owned by his mentor, the legendary sushi master Takeaki Niitsu. “[These items] help me stay in touch with my roots.”

One day, Mitsuhiro Araki will take down the discreet nameplate above his door and pass his tools on to the next generation. But it won’t be anytime soon. “Sushi is my vocation,” he says, “my reason for being. And I still have so much to learn.”