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?+kdm
these are the size of freakin clown shoes. masa: [ speaking japanese ] anthony: where are these from? masa: shimane prefecture. anthony: wow, just one oyster is a meal. it s like as big as a steak. masa: yeah, yeah, yeah. thank you! just like that. anthony: hold it french style. masa: french style. [ laughter ] anthony: wow. masa: good, huh? anthony: mm! masa: right? they re the best. anthony: wow, that s good. and tender for a big oyster, you know? masa: thank you! [ speaking japanese ] anthony: arigato. anthony: the geisha profession, or geiko as it s
masa: [ speaking japanese ] ishi: [ speaking japanese ] anthony: so, were you surprised that he became a big success in america? ishi: [ speaking japanese ] anthony: you were not a lazy kid. you had dreams, and you wanted to do masa: that s right. i can t sit long. i gotta do something. ishi: [ speaking japanese ] catherine: she s saying he probably works more here, than at the restaurant. [ laughter ] anthony: oh man, nice wasabi. masa: this is great flavor, so you have to scrape first. have to scrape, then go this way. ooh! anthony: yeah, nice. wow, look at that.
you were kids? build a fire? cook something? drink sake? masa: always, always we did that. smoked cigarettes. anthony: yeah. back then did everybody know that you were not going to stay? like, when you were in high school did you talk about, when i get old enough i m going to america? i m not staying here. masa: yeah, we did that. [ speaking japanese ] yeah, i told them. anthony: now, you weren t dressed up like john wayne or anything right, when you went to school? no cowboy boots. masa: no, no. no, no, no. no. anthony: they say you can take the boy out of the country, but you can t take the country out of the boy. i don t know if that s true. we all come from someplace, that s for sure. but, new york city, in masa takayama s case, seems far,
over family business. i gotta do something. went to tokyo, then realized, wow, this is a different world. what can i do? anthony: yeah. masa: second brother maybe. anthony: second brother syndrome. masa: right. maybe, yeah. anthony: this was awesome. masa: [ speaking japanese ] good to see you again. (vo) combine the right things. and something amazing happens. that s our inspiration for fancy feast medleys. wild salmon primavera.