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Yoshiyasu Omae, sushi chef at Sushi Daizen, turns disadvantages into advantages with his unique sales style.

2024.1.11

#OTHER

A circle of friends connected by gootouchi! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.

On October 25, Yoshiyasu Omae, a sushi chef at Sushi Daizen in Yurakucho, was introduced by Naho Okamoto, a designer and representative of the jewelry brand SIRI SIRI. In this interview, we asked him not only about how he became a sushi chef and Sushi Daizen’s business style, but also about his thoughts on his favorite radio.

Transition from Photographer to Sushi Chef in the Family Business

Celeina (MC): After graduating from college and working as a photographer, Yoshiyasu Omae began working at Sushi Daizen, a sushi restaurant with only nine counter seats that his father, Mamoru Omae, opened under a guard in Yurakucho. Sushi Daizen has become popular for its free-flowing ideas, such as a menu structure that specializes in glistening dishes and the ability to bring your own alcohol.Mr.Omae, who stands at the counter, is also a big radio enthusiast.

Omae:Yes, I run a sushi restaurant. Pleased to meet you.

Takano (MC): So you like radio?

Omae:Radio is already a part of my life.

Celeina: What time do you listen to it?

Omae:I listen to it from the moment I leave the house, and of course I listen to it while stocking up and preparing food. I don’t play it in the store, but the conversations with customers are like radio, so the conversation is always playing in my head.

Takano: I was wondering about your profile, Omae-san. Did you work as a photographer first?

Omae: After graduating from college, I worked as a photographer. When I was a student, I really liked culture and went to culture-related schools. However, since my great-grandfather opened the restaurant in the Meiji era, it has been in the family business of sushi restaurants for generations, and I am the fourth generation in the family. There was a large traditional sushi restaurant in Aoyama, but it was closed during the bubble economy, and my father started the current restaurant in Yurakucho. I guess it was a natural progression. While helping him, I began to think that the customer business was interesting.

Celeina:I see. So it was more of a natural progression from being a photographer to a sushi chef, rather than a major catalyst?

Omae:Yes, that’s right.But I still love culture, so I listen to the radio and go to various events.

The limited silver skinned fish menu and bringing in alcohol were born from the restaurant’s disadvantages.

Takano: Isn’t there an apprenticeship or other hardship involved in becoming a sushi chef?

Omae: Generally, you go to other restaurants to learn from them, but I used what I learned from my father as a base, and I also went to other restaurants to see how they used their tools, how they acted, and what kind of sushi they served. I also did my own research and gained a lot of knowledge as I developed my skills.

Celeina:So you have come to make sushi in a rather freestyle, free style. It’s great.

Takano: It’s an amazing technique. You don’t measure when you make sushi.

Omae: That part was trial and error, and as soon as I was taught, I was like, “Try it.

Celeina:That is the toughest part. And Sushi Daizen has a very unique style in that the menu is limited to mackerel and other silver skinned fish, and you also allow customers to bring in their own alcohol.

Omae: Since I joined the restaurant. There are many sushi restaurants around the restaurant, so I wanted to create something unique that would differentiate us from them. Our restaurant is very small, with only nine seats. The first disadvantage is that we have a small refrigerator for storing the many ingredients we prepare and a small case for displaying them. When we thought about the advantages of making the most of these disadvantages, we realized that we were close to the market. The current market is on Toyosu, but at the time it was the Tsukiji market, so it was within walking distance. So I came up with the idea of serving the freshest fish that came in from all over Japan on the same day.

I also thought it would be interesting to use silver skinned fish, which is the most quickly-damaged type of fish, use as an asset., when mackerel is produced in different regions or in different seasons, there are various changes in the meat quality. I thought it would be interesting to compare such foods, so I decided to make mackerel and silver skinned fish the star of the show.

Takano: Is the reason you brought in alcohol also because you don’t have a place to store it?

Omae: That’s part of it. Also, my father is a non-drinker, so when I started the restaurant, I started by asking him to buy alcohol for me because I didn’t know what it was. So when I thought about how to make the restaurant viable, I changed to a leave-it-to-me style. The disadvantage of having a small number of seats became an advantage in that we could stock just enough to keep things running without wasting money. We changed our mindset and decided that it would be better if the seats were always filled.

Celeina:This style is possible only at Sushi Daizen, isn’t it?

Takano: You have properly converted a weakness into a strength. Customers are also happy to be able to drink their favorite alcoholic beverage.

Celeina:How do your customers take advantage of bringing their own drinks?

Omae:They bring their own drinks from the time they come. I hope they enjoy it from that point on. Many people find this system interesting and come to the restaurant, so it has conversely become one of our weapons to attract customers.

Celeina:I hear that it is difficult to make reservations now, and that the rooms are booked up to two months in advance.

Omae: We are booked for the end of the year, and we are accepting reservations for next year.

Celeina:Let’s go after next year, listeners.

Takano: Let’s do that. By the way, what is on the menu today?

Omae: The market is closed today, so the restaurant is also closed. It is in accordance with the closed market day.

Celeina:It’s great for customers that you put freshness first.

Being able to talk with people in close proximity is rewarding and worth living for.

Celeina:Mr.Omae,you work at the counter. Do you feel the joy of communication that only a sushi restaurant can offer?

Omae:Conversation with customers is the most enjoyable and rewarding part of my job. Because we are so close to our customers, we naturally get to talk with them in depth and hear many different stories. I am in a kind of hole-in-the-wall all the time, and I hear stories about various professions and the world.

Takano: It’s like a snack bar or a bar.

Omae: I like to be able to talk in this kind of distance, so it didn’t have to be a sushi bar as long as I could do that.

Celeina: Perhaps your desire to chat comes from the fact that you like radio. Here, I would like to send you a song, and I asked Mr.Ohmae to choose a song that we would all like to listen to at this time. Please tell us why you chose it and introduce the song.

Omae:I chose a song that I love. It is “Only You” by Kimyo Reitaro Bizarre Travel Swing Orchestra.

https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/track/1F6kPaR7kL1WOhiBBuYsyC?si=28be94908e5845bd

Celeina: “Only You” by Kimyo Reitaro Bizarre Travel Swing Orchestra.

Omae: It’s very moving.

Celeina: Mr. Omae is happy to raise and lower his cough switch(haha).

Omae: It’s a pilgrimage to a holy place.

Celeina: I am glad to hear you say so.

Takano: Usually, when guests come to the stadio, we turn off the cuff lifting and lowering.

Omae:Is it okay for me to do something special like this? thank you.

Celeina:Mr. Omae loves radio, and I heard that his love for radio turned into a podcast.

Omae: That was before podcasts were a thing.

Celeina: You were doing Internet radio. You must have been a radio pioneer before us.

Omae:No, we were just making them on our own and broadcasting them in the sea of the Internet, so it was really just for fun.

Takano: And your partner is that Taiki Yamanaka?

Omae:That’s right. At the time, we were still nobody. We were making radio programs together because we both liked radio, and he said, “I want to be a radio personality. “At that time, there was an audition for J-WAVE, and I thought, “I’ve become a real radio personality”.

Takano: He is also related to GRAND MARQUEE, and I am very grateful to them.

Celeina: You also appeared as a substitute for Takano-san, didn’t you?

Takano: I am glad that we are connected in many ways.

Omae: I feel a connection with you.

Celeina: Do you ever feel like doing a podcast again?

Omae: Teppei Fujita, who was a guest on “FIST BUMP” on Mondays, does it personally, and I have had him as a guest, but I think it is also interesting to talk. I have a client who is in her early 20s and works at an office. She likes to eat and is making her own podcast program, so I am interested in podcast.

Takano: Please do it! And please call us when you do!

“Sushi Daizen” is becoming a community where culture gathers

Celeina: And as Ms.Okamoto mentioned yesterday, you are the son of a sushi chef who is well versed in various cultures.

Omae: It is interesting that I am the son of a sushi chef.

Celeina:I heard that you have art works displayed in your store.

Omae:I received them from customers. I have a variety of artwork, from paintings to photographs and calligraphy.

Takano: I understand that you have works by Kosuge Kumi, who used to appear at GRAND MARQUEE.

Omae: Ms. Kosuge was originally a customer. Since we were the same age, we hit it off and became friends, and then she made a piece for me.

Takano: You have a good connection.

Celeina: It’s a great community.

Takano: It’s like a bar.

Omae: That’s right. I would be happy if people come to the store thinking it is really entertainment.

Celeina:“FIST BUMP” is a circle of friends connected by a goo touch. So, what kind of friend would Omae introduce?

Omae:I’m going to read directly from the text prepared by our staff. Ken Kojima is a cultural figure who started out as a professional soccer player in Argentina and is now a manga artist and beauty marketer? I think a cultural figure is a very apt description of a his person.

Celeina: Let’s start with your personal connection.

Omae: When I met him, he was working for a law firm. Before that, he was a soccer player in Argentina. After that, he got his cosmetology license, became a manicurist, and ran a nail salon. I thought I started working in marketing in the beauty industry, but I also did some DJ work, which led me to appear on a music station. Other than that, he runs local festivals, and I don’t really know what he is doing (haha).

Celeina:He is a real cultured person.

Takano: I wonder if I will have enough time tomorrow.

Omae: I want them to find out who he is. That’s what I meant when I chose them. In a word, he is a strange person.

Takano: That’s simple.

Omae: Earlier, I said that I was doing radio with Taiki, but in fact, there were three of us. He is that other one.

Celeina:I see.

Omae:This baton is filled with our thoughts, so it’s really hot.

Celeina:Thank you very much. Tomorrow, I would like to connect to Kenta Kojima, a cultural worker. Today we welcomed Yoshiyasu Omae, a sushi chef at Sushi Daizen in Yurakucho.

Omae: Thank you very much.

GRAND MARQUEE

J-WAVE (81.3FM) Mon-Thu 16:00 – 18:50
Navigator: Shinya Takano, Celeina Ann

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