Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary film that shows the life journey of a person who is passionate about being a sushi chef, who has made this his main career and continues to do this work until today.
“Japanese food is a story of art that comes from care, diligence and professionalism.”
The documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi tells the story of an old man named Jiro Ono, the owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro sushi restaurant (Jiro is now about 95 years old). Throughout his life, Jiro has only worked one job: selling sushi.
Japanese food, a popular food among Thai people
In our country, if we talk about Japanese food, we must say that it is very easy to find and eat these days because it is easy to buy and there are options to choose from in almost every province and in almost every form, whether it is to eat in the restaurant, order to eat at home, or go to buy at a supermarket or convenience store, there are many menus to choose from.
According to the latest data from the Japan External Trade Organization , the Japanese food market in Thailand in 2020 saw a 12.6% increase in the number of Japanese restaurants to 4,094, up from the original 3,637. Sushi restaurants increased the most at 504, 50.9% more than in 2019. This is a result of expansion in the form of franchises from major chains that are rushing to invade the market and from new players that are continuously jumping into the market.
The value of the Japanese food market each year is around 400 billion baht, and it has grown continuously every year. Although there have been some stumbles in the past year, it is still considered to be continuously popular with Thai people.
The reason why Thai people like Japanese food is probably due to many factors, such as the ingredients. When it is said that it is Japanese food, the belief in cleanliness, freshness, and the careful selection of ingredients immediately arises in the minds of consumers. The art that the chefs have conveyed to the food. Many Japanese dishes are artistic, showing the care and delicacy of the chefs. The beauty that we see makes Japanese food very appetizing. And finally, the taste is delicious to many Thai people, making Japanese food very popular and continues to be.
The story of Japanese food is always interesting to Thai people.
Did you know?
Uncle Jiro’s restaurant only has 10 seats, but the price per meal is not ordinary. It costs 30,000-40,000 yen per person, or about ten thousand baht per person. And if you want to eat sushi at Uncle Jiro’s restaurant, you have to make a reservation months in advance.
In the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, there are also many interesting stories and issues, whether it’s about work or the way of life of a person who has spent his entire life working in one profession. But this profession seems easy to do, but that’s for amateurs. But for Uncle Jiro, he is a professional in the sushi industry who is still breathing.
What we learned from this story
In fact, there are many interesting aspects, but in this article, the admin would like to present the work perspective, which consists of 6 points as follows:
“Once we have chosen our profession, we must love it and devote ourselves to it wholeheartedly.” –(1)
Uncle Jiro, who is almost a hundred years old, has chosen to walk the path of being a sushi chef. He is passionate about making sushi, pays attention to everything related to sushi, practices making sushi, and works every day without feeling bored and almost never stops working.
In this documentary, Uncle Jiro does not say that we all have to find passion, but Uncle Jiro is telling us that if we truly intend to pursue this career until we die, we will find our passion for this work and we will want to continue doing this career without the word retirement.
As for mistakes, of course they will happen, but that is not a reason to give up on our career. If we continue to strive and do it, we will eventually become the best in that career, just like Uncle Jiro.
“The success of any career does not always have to be measured in terms of money.” –(2)
Uncle Jiro’s Sushi Shop is different from other Japanese restaurants that we have seen or experienced because Uncle Jiro’s shop only sells sushi and has only 10 seats in the shop. The price for 20 pieces of sushi per customer is 30,000-40,000 yen (the price varies depending on the cost of ingredients that can be found each day). Uncle’s shop sells so well that reservations have to be made months in advance.
In terms of income, I would suggest that Uncle open a branch, expand the branch, or add other menus to attract customers to pay more. But Uncle Jiro doesn’t do that. At Uncle Jiro’s shop, he only sells sushi. There are no other types of Japanese food. He doesn’t sell alcohol. The reason why Uncle Jiro doesn’t sell anything else besides sushi is because he wants customers who come to eat here to taste only sushi. Because Uncle Jiro loves making sushi, he wants to focus on it and has a passion to develop it all the time, rather than doing many other things just for the money.
Just having one shop, with only 10 locations, is already legendary.
“The true meaning of perfection is continuous improvement, doing better today than you did yesterday.” –(3)
Uncle Jiro told us that throughout his career, he always felt that he hadn’t done a good enough job (even though customers admired and liked him, or he had received many awards). He always told himself that he could do better. That’s why simple-looking food like Uncle Jiro’s sushi has to go through many processes before it’s served to customers.
For example, selecting the finest ingredients from good partners who have known each other for a long time, and various techniques in preparing ingredients, such as the rice cooking method, which is not ordinary, or the squid massage method, which also has techniques that make it delicious, or even making sushi, the entire process from finding, preparing, to serving, makes the sushi taste excellent and impressive.
Doing things repeatedly, but never forgetting to look for ways to improve, this is the path to perfection.
“There are no shortcuts to success. Just having talent is not enough. You must have true passion and dedication.” –(4)
Uncle Jiro said that when it comes to cooking, good chefs usually have a talent for tasting food, understanding tastes, smells, and more. But this is not enough because to reach the top of their profession, they need dedication, attention, and discipline to be able to reach that level.
For example, if they want to learn to work with Uncle Jiro, they must start by practicing how to wring out the hot towels that are prepared for customers before they enter the shop. If they still can’t do it and aren’t skilled, they won’t be able to move on to other parts. Or slicing fish requires tens of years of practice. Or just the process of making tamagoyaki before it’s done to the satisfaction of Uncle Jiro, for some students, they may have to make hundreds of sheets.
If you encounter something like this, it’s normal to feel discouraged and definitely give up (in this documentary, it says that some people only come to work for one day and then leave). But for some people, if they see this as a path that will make them become a professional, become the best in this profession, no matter how many times they fail, no matter how many times they fall, they are ready to get up and move forward. In fact, Uncle Jiro is already an example that he spent more than 70 years in this profession to reach this point. If we learn from people who are good, we will definitely take less time than them.
Passion, dedication and discipline are the path to professionalism.
“Distinction and difference come from attention to every detail.” –(5)
Sushi, a food that looks easy to make, but sushi from Uncle Jiro’s Sukiyabashi Jiro is not that easy to make. This documentary shows the behind-the-scenes of sushi making, the ingredients, and the methods of preparing the ingredients, all of which are very interesting.
For example, in the matter of buying and cooking rice, Uncle Jiro has a regular rice vendor. The vendor told me that a famous hotel came to buy the same rice that Uncle Jiro sold to him, but he refused to sell it to them because he knew that even if he sold it to them, they would definitely not be able to cook it as deliciously as Uncle Jiro did. Uncle Jiro’s rice for making sushi is cooked in a pressure cooker, which is a secret that has been continuously developed. Once cooked, the rice must be stored in a container that can maintain the temperature that gives the best taste before serving to customers. Or to make the squid delicious, it must be slowly massaged by hand for 45 minutes to make it soft.
Even when molding the size of rice, Uncle Jiro will observe the customers who come to eat with him. If it is a woman, he will mold the pieces into smaller pieces. Or if it is a left-handed person, he will serve Fushi for the customer to pick up and eat conveniently. And when serving sushi, he will also observe the rhythm of the customer’s eating. He will not rush to serve until the customer cannot finish in time, etc.
Because of the attention paid to every step, Uncle Jiro’s sushi restaurant has maintained its reputation and survived to this day.
“Behind every success is not just one person.” –(6)
Uncle Jiro told me that some customers often think that the owner is the one who works the hardest. The assistants in the shop must be working comfortably while the owner does everything. But in fact, Uncle Jiro said that most of the work, 95% of the sushi, is done before it reaches him. This means that the person who works the least is standing where the light shines, as customers see.
This point shows how to give credit and give importance to the team. But on the other hand, it also shows that before each person can stand in front of customers as a shop owner or sushi maker, they must have gone through those 95% of the work first.
In addition, partners are also a very important part of getting good ingredients. From this story, we can see that each supplier, shrimp merchants, rice merchants, fish merchants, or others, have worked with Uncle Jiro and his son for a long time. They understand each other and know what kind of ingredients are suitable for Uncle Jiro’s shop. Some people even say that they have to keep the best for Uncle Jiro, even though they earn less money than selling to others.
Perfection and success come from the participation of everyone.
Conclusion
Have we done our best today with the work we love?
This is a question we should ask ourselves often because many times we get discouraged and give up too easily. Or we choose to do what we love but neglect to love what we do. I would like you to try looking at Uncle Jiro’s working methods and life to understand the perspective of loving what you do even more.
The documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a suitable story for working people who are having problems or are looking for Passion or looking for success and advancement. It is definitely worth watching because there are many aspects that we can adjust or apply to our careers and lives as well.
You can watch this at: https://www.netflix.com/title/70181716
