Known as the ‘Father of Aged Sushi’, there is not a sushi gourmand today that doesn’t know Koji Kimura. But the road to this point has been long and risky. Kimura’s grandfather ran a sushi restaurant in Kanda, Tokyo, but was forced to move to the suburbs after it burned down in the air raids of the war. His father eventually took over the business and in 1971, Kimura was born as the third generation in this sushi business family. As far back as he can remember, he had been allowed to use a knife, and in junior high school, he was gifted his very own for the first time.

Kimura has many fantastic memories around food and recalls that even though his family was not particularly wealthy, they always ate well. He credits this exposure to foods of all kinds from a young age for the development of his discerning palate. In the restaurant, Kimura recalls how his father’s sushi brought joy to his customers, who came in anticipation of the fun and tasty dishes he always served up. He had no qualms about taking over the family business and was confident in his ability after training under his father, but felt he should gain some outside experience first. Because his mind was set about the kind of sushi he wished to produce, and he didn’t want anyone telling him otherwise, he chose to train at a tempura restaurant instead.

The hints he gained from that time have proved priceless. While a sushi chef makes full use of water in his cuisine, for washing and cleaning, a tempura chef preparing fish and other ingredients avoids moisture at all costs, to ensure no splashing of oil upon cooking. In 2005, after six months of tempura training, Kimura opened his own restaurant – a regular sushi place. He chose the Futako-Tamagawa area because he wanted to cater to customers who are willing to trek out to the residential neighborhood to fully enjoy the sushi experience. He didn’t want his restaurant to be a place for business and client entertainment. Denying all media attention, he chose to gather customers on his own merits through word of mouth. But when business was flailing, rather than bend his system to please all sorts, the determined Kimura searched for some key that was true to himself and would distinguish his sushi from the rest.

The idea for ageing fish came to him as he lamented discarding whole blocks of his beloved white fish that had gone bad while waiting for customers. Despite having carefully chosen these pricey pieces at the market, he had to toss them in the garbage. But he grew curious about their flavor. Digging into the center flesh, which still had beautiful color, one taste revealed a sweetness he had never experienced in white fish. It dawned on him that the flesh becomes deliciously sweet just before it spoils. The only problem was the smell. Experimentation began: a new fridge, variable temperature settings, and constant assessment of how the fish and innards evolve to find the ultimate in aged sushi, sometimes with not great results for Kimura’s own stomach. But with advice from the tempura master to push the boundaries and be left with no regrets, he persevered. The discoveries he made through tireless research are now the key to his success. Kimura’s sushi is delicious precisely because it isn’t fresh – this ground-breaking new style of sushi has since earned Kimura two Michelin stars for five years in a row.

VISION
Kimura feels that he has near perfected the sushi-aging technique, thus he is focusing now on refining the rice, vinegar, and other non-fish elements of the meal. He wants to revolutionize the sushi industry to focus on delivering only seasonal ingredients; he sees too many restaurants paying exorbitant prices to procure crowd-pleasers such as uni and fatty tuna, even if slightly off-season. With over-fishing, there may come a time when we can no longer catch tuna, and Kimura is determined to cultivate a sushi culture that can survive without such present-day standard varieties. He wants to spread his philosophy that a skilled sushi chef is one who creates a value-added experience. He has an aversion to just buying good ingredients and putting a high price tag on them. He especially wants foreigners to understand this passion, which is why he has taken this opportunity to tie up with discerning TABLEALL customers.