Nishi-Azabu Shimizu

Proprietor Takuya Shimizu grew up watching the back of his father, who built a sushi restaurant in Asakusa from the ground up in a single generation. After graduating university, he took a job at a general company aiming to become an executive, but he reaffirmed his love for the cooking that had been close to him since childhood, decided he would open his own restaurant by the time he turned 30, and set out into the world of Japanese cuisine. He went through an apprenticeship so devoted to his craft that he can say without hesitation, "I worked myself half to death," and in 2022 he opened his current restaurant in Nishi-Azabu.
Asked about his dreams for the future, Shimizu says, "There are a lot of them, but the biggest one is 'nurturing the next generation.' Japan's food culture and traditions are things that should be protected and carried on without ever letting them die out. Training young people to carry that forward is one of my dreams from here on." Behind words that carry both gentleness and quiet resolve, a calm passion for the future of Japanese cuisine came through.