My father died in a car accident when I was seven. Whenever I missed him, I would look in the family photo album at this picture of when he had gone to Palau. He was an architect and had gone to source lumber for his work. It made me dream of going abroad someday and making him proud.
My older brother took me to sushi restaurants as a kid. They were very expensive; not the kinds of places kids would go. I was so impressed by the energy of the sushi chefs, the smells, the choice of fish. From then on, I knew that’s what I wanted to be. After graduating from high school at 18, I trained to be a sushi chef in Tokyo.
My training took seven years. I didn’t learn how to make sushi for the first three years. I only got two days off a month, and slept on the restaurant floor. But I loved the job. I’d go to the fish market every morning. I got to open the restaurant and see the customers. I’d watch my mentor making sushi and would copy him under the table, practising with my fingers.
After my training, one of my regular customers, who originally came from Peru, asked me if I wanted to open a restaurant with him in Lima. I worked there for three years.
I moved to Argentina, then back to Tokyo and then to Anchorage, in Alaska, where I ran a restaurant. After 50 days the restaurant burnt down – an electrical fire. I lost my dream. I lost my money. I lost my passion. I thought about suicide, but thinking of my family and my kids made me realise I had to wake up.
I never gave up. I moved to Los Angeles to work in a small restaurant. Finally, in 1987, I opened my own first restaurant, Matsuhisa, in Beverly Hills. My dreams were coming true.
The British director Roland Joffé once came to Matsuhisa with Robert De Niro. Every time De Niro came to LA, he’d always stop by and say how much he liked the food. One day he asked if I wanted to open a restaurant in New York with him. I told him no. Four years later he asked again. I’d almost forgotten what he was talking about, but this time I decided I would trust him, and the first Nobu opened in New York in 1994.
I like nothing better than watching people enjoy my food. I’m at my happiest when I can have my eyes on all the tables, so I can watch people smiling and laughing. We now have 55 restaurants and 18 Nobu hotels. I’m in a very happy place right now.
All I’ve ever done is cook. I appreciate that I chose my job. I appreciate people supporting my restaurant. I don’t want to do things the easy way. I always like to try my best.
Nobu Hotel, London Portman Square nobuhotels.com/london-portman
