is a Japanese chef and owner of

Sukiyabashi Jiro is a sushi restaurant in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It is owned and operated by sushi master Jiro Ono (chef), Jiro Ono. It was the first sushi restaurant in the world to receive three stars from the Michelin Guide, although it was removed fr ...

, a Japanese

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

restaurant in

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Ono is regarded by his contemporaries as one of the greatest living sushi craftsmen and is credited with innovating methods used in modern sushi preparation.

Early years

Ono was born in the city of Tenryū (present-day

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview ...

) in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

, Japan. He started working at a local restaurant from the age of seven, before moving to Tokyo to study as an apprentice. He became a qualified

sushi chef An is a cook in a Japanese kitchen or a chef of a large restaurant. The term can be translated literally as "in front of the board," referring to a cutting board. ''Itamae'' as sushi chef In the western world, an ''itamae'' is often associate ...

in 1951, and in 1965 opened his own restaurant, , in

, Tokyo.

Personal life

Ono has two sons, Yoshikazu and Takashi Ono, both of whom are also sushi chefs. Takashi, the younger son, manages his own

Michelin-starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

restaurant. Jiro Ono was the subject of

David Gelb David Gelb (born October 16, 1983) is an American film director and co-founder of Supper Club, a production company. He is most known for his documentary work on the subject of food and cuisine, including the 2011 film '' Jiro Dreams of Sush ...

's 2011 documentary film ''

Jiro Dreams of Sushi ''Jiro Dreams of Sushi'' is a 2011 Japanese-language American documentary film directed by David Gelb. The film follows , an 85-year-old sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, previously a Michelin three-star restaurant. Sukiyabashi Jiro ...

''. The Onos fear that

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...

will cause key ingredients used in traditional sushi to disappear. Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe at Sukyabashi Jiro April 2014

Ono has served former Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

and United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

at Sukiyabashi Jiro. Obama stated, "I was born in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and ate a lot of sushi, but this was the best sushi I've ever had in my life."

Explanatory notes

References

1925 births Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants Japanese chefs Living people People from Shizuoka Prefecture Sushi {{chef-stub