Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.

Director:

David Gelb

Stars:

Jiro Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Masuhiro Yamamoto	...	Himself
Daisuke Nakazama	...	Himself
Hachiro Mizutani	...	Himself
Harutaki Takahashi	...	Himself
Hiroki Fujita	...	Himself
Tsunenori Ida	...	Himself
Toichiro Iida	...	Himself
Akihiro Oyama	...	Himself
Shizuo Oyama	...	Himself
Hiroshi Okuda	...	Himself
Yukio Watanabe	...	Himself
Kazunori Kumakawa	...	Himself
Kazuo Fukaya	...	Himself
Syozo Someya	...	Himself
Hiromichi Honda	...	Himself

Storyline

In the basement of a Tokyo office building, 85 year old sushi master Jiro Ono works tirelessly in his world renowned restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro. As his son Yoshikazu faces the pressures of stepping into his father's shoes and taking over the legendary restaurant, Jiro relentlessly pursues his lifelong quest to create the perfect piece of sushi.

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Plot Keywords:

sushi | master | food | tuna | fish market | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 March 2012 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Jiro e l'arte del sushi

Filming Locations:

Sukibayashi Jiro - Tsukamoto Sogyo Building Basement 1st Floor, 4-2-15, Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$42,035 (USA) (9 March 2012)

Gross:

$2,550,508 (USA) (17 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Preferred Content, Sundial Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the staff lunch scene, an apprentice demonstrates the correct technique for dipping sushi in shoyu (soy sauce). It must be turned upside-down so the shoyu touches only the fish. In high-end sushi restaurants such as Jiro's, the itamae (sushi chef) applies a seasoning to the fish with a brush so the customer doesn't need to use shoyu.

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Quotes

Jiro Ono: I've never once hated this job. I fell in love with my work and gave my life to it. Even though I'm eighty five years old, I don't feel like retiring. That's how I feel.

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Crazy Credits

In the Special Thanks section, "The Tsukiji Fish Market" is listed twice.

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Connections

Referenced in Orange Is the New Black: WAC Pack (2013)

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Soundtracks

Off To Market
Composed and Produced by Rye Randa and Jeff Foxworth aka The Ontic

User Reviews

Extraordinary

I was thoroughly charmed by the film. When I read the synopsis, I thought I would be bored to tears. But it's a lovely, poignant, challenging documentary about excellence, discipline, vocational call, tenacity. The film challenged me to think about my own persistence, an ongoing striving to improve and grow, doing work for the love of it and much less so for the financial gain. the documentary highlights the ability to succeed after incredible hardship, and some would say, cruelty. The cinematography was elegant, the music varied and interesting, the precision of the art of making sushi, the rigor and discipline to do it well, the requirement to be surrounded by others who always want to excel. A wonderful film and I'll see it again...and again. It even made me want to eat sushi...which I never do.