anthony: sushi. and not just sushi. sushi made at one of the oldest, most iconic, respected, best establishments in the world. the place where it all began, not just for masa takayama, but generations of young, predominantly male, sushi apprentices, or deshis, who went on to open their own places all over the world. this is ginza sushi ko in tokyo. the original. 130 years old, and for all that time, this, in one form or the other, is how the day started. scaling and gutting the fish. prepping the kitchen. masa: cleaning bathroom, making sake for customers. anthony: right. masa: dishwasher. everything. anthony: for how long? masa: first two years.
anthony: sushi. and not just sushi. sushi made at one of the oldest, most iconic, respected, best establishments in the world. the place where it all began, not just for masa takayama, but generations of young, predominantly male, sushi apprentices, or deshis, who went on to open their own places all over the world. this is ginza sushi ko in tokyo. the original. 130 years old, and for all that time, this, in one form or the other, is how the day started. scaling and gutting the fish. prepping the kitchen. masa: cleaning bathroom, making sake for customers. anthony: right. masa: dishwasher. everything. anthony: for how long? masa: first two years. anthony: only in the third year, the rice.
the original. 130 years old, and for all that time, this, in one form or the other, is how the day started. scaling and gutting the fish. prepping the kitchen. masa: cleaning bathroom, making sake for customers. anthony: right. masa: dishwasher. everything. anthony: for how long? masa: first two years. anthony: only in the third year, the rice. masa: [ speaking japanese ] anthony: and if you get that right, eventually, maybe, just maybe, the master will begin to teach you the next phase, how to stand next to him as a wakita, slicing the fish, eventually, eventually, creating pieces of nigiri for guests at the bar. of the dozen young men who work here, not all will make it to become a sushi shokunin. masa: oh, it s been a long time. anthony: to achieve that status of truly becoming a master chef. how many years? seven years to learn, right? masa: yeah. anthony: that s a lot of time.
the original. 130 years old, and for all that time, this, in one form or the other, is how the day started. scaling and gutting the fish. prepping the kitchen. masa: cleaning bathroom, making sake for customers. anthony: right. masa: dishwasher. everything. anthony: for how long? masa: first two years. anthony: only in the third year, the rice. masa: [ speaking japanese ] anthony: and if you get that right, eventually, maybe, just maybe, the master will begin to teach you the next phase, how to stand next to him as a wakita, slicing the fish, eventually, eventually, creating pieces of nigiri for guests at the bar. of the dozen young men who work here, not all will make it to become a sushi shokunin. masa: oh, it s been a long time. anthony: to achieve that status of truly becoming a master chef. how many years? seven years to learn, right? masa: yeah. anthony: that s a lot of time.
prepping the kitchen. masa: cleaning bathroom, making sake for customers. anthony: right. masa: dishwasher. everything. anthony: for how long? masa: first two years. anthony: only in the third year, the rice. masa: [ speaking japanese ] anthony: and if you get that right, eventually, maybe, just maybe, the master will begin to teach you the next phase, how to stand next to him as a wakita, slicing the fish, eventually, eventually, creating pieces of nigiri for guests at the bar. of the dozen young men who work here, not all will make it to become a sushi shokunin. masa: oh, it s been a long time. anthony: to achieve that status of truly becoming a master chef. how many years? seven years to learn, right? masa: yeah. anthony: that s a lot of time. masa: a lot of time. anthony: a lot of work. a lot of pain. what was it like apprenticing here? hard? masa: his father was very tough. anthony: yeah? masa: very tough. at that time, his grandfather was here to