Learn Authentic Sushi Making in a Private Villa – Includes Facility Tour and Tea Time Hospitality

Sushi-making in a Classic Japanese ‘50s Mansion Residence

Go beyond simple top-grade sushi-tasting in this experience, exploring the craft behind it with your own hands. By actually making sushi, you can deepen your understanding of Japan’s traditional culinary arts.

Toyosaki Kusano Private Villa, a Classic Japanese Mansion Residence built in the 1950s

The venue for this experience is Toyosaki Kusano Private Villa, a lovingly renovated traditional wooden mansion built in 1952. The classic Japanese tiled roof and wood-face exterior conveys all the charm of a high-end traditional ryotei restaurant, but stepping inside transports guests into an astonishing achievement of fusion in interior design sensibilities, incorporating luxury materials, Western-style antique furniture, and some preserved original rooms and other elements with an elegant and deceptively effortless synthesis.

A Villa Tour, a Glimpse into History

Begin the experience with a welcome drink of Japanese tea in the first floor tatami drawing room. Take a moment to sit, sip, and relax in a traditional Japanese space and enjoy the luxury of the classic straw-mat floors, sliding wood-lattice and paper shoji doors, and the tokonoma alcove complete with an ikebana flower arrangement and hanging wall scroll.

A luxurious welcome drink in the tatami drawing room facing the garden

Follow your welcome drink with a guided tour of the facility. The main sitting room walls are clad in Oya stone, a 23 million-year-old volcanic rock that can be sourced only from Japan’s Tochigi prefecture, said to have soothing properties and famed for its use in Frank Lloyd Wright's Tokyo Imperial Hotel. A tile-floored sunroom corridor offers gorgeous garden views, and a solid countertop adorns the private bar lounge. In the tour, visitors can learn about the thoughtful design considerations behind each and every renovation choice.

Detailed explanations offer a deeper understanding of the building and Japanese architecture

A Priceless Close Study of Master Craftsmanship

After a tour of the villa, enjoy a talk on the art of nigiri from a professional sushi chef in the dining room. Your instructor is Hajime Nakamura, proprietor of Hajime Sushi. Nakamura is a master connoisseur approaching 30 years of experience as a sushi chef. He visits three different marketplaces every morning to procure fresh ingredients that become his delicious seasonal sushi offerings. As you watch him work, take in his guidance in how to appraise and select fish.

Hajime Nakamura of Hajime Sushi

Nakamura also offers an introduction to the various tools he uses in sushi preparation. Specialized blades like a Deba knife for preliminary cutting and a Yanagiba knife for finer carving of sushi toppings can be viewed up close for appreciation of both the implements themselves as the technique behind their use.

Among the many vital skills of a master sushi chef are selecting and carving the most delicious cuts of each fish

Crafting Nigiri Sushi Under Master Guidance

When Nakamura has covered his selection process and sushi tools, it’s finally time for you to get hands-on with the craft yourself. Before handling the ingredients, wet your fingers and palm using a dedicated bowl of water to prevent grains of rice from sticking to them as you work. Then take a scoop of rice (shari), mold it in your fingers, dab a smear of wasabi to the underside of the seafood topping (neta), and form the two pieces together into a single final shape using the kotegaeshi technique to rotate it as you sculpt so that the neta neatly crowns the shari.

Choose your neta (sushi topping) from the neta-bako (topping box) and experience the art of nigiri

The process of nigiri looks deceptively simple in the hands of a pro. But despite the surprising finesse actually required, you can work with confidence under Nakamura’s attentive expert guidance. “Rather than focusing on being good at the techniques of nigiri,” says Nakamura, “I suggest starting by just trying to enjoy using them.”

Experience the freshly-made nigiri you just made with your own hands

Sushi is all the more enjoyable when you make it yourself. Approximately fifteen different topping varieties have been prepared for your use in this experience, and you can use them all up as you see fit. In addition to this veritable handmade feast, delight in three a la carte side creations by Nakamura himself, including sashimi, grilled dishes, or stewed dishes (specific offerings vary with the season).

A fresh seasonal side dish

Luxuriate in the Afterglow of a Sumptuous Meal

When the sushi experience is complete, sit down to an after-meal teatime in the villa’s private bar lounge. Bask in the residual joy of the luxurious meal in a stately chamber replete with a genuine Steinway piano and antique sofas upholstered in authentic fabric from the Showa period (1926-1989).

Making and eating sushi in the elegant synthesis of Japanese essence and Western design sensibility that is Toyosaki Kusano Villa offers a chance to luxuriate in dimensions of Japanese culinary tradition unattainable through mere sightseeing. Appreciate a deeper understanding of Japanese culture through its cuisine, and cherish a lifelong memory of learning the art of nigiri straight from a professional sushi chef.