Two weeks ago, we wrote about Chizui Yuki, the female sushi chef who runs Nadeshiko Sushi in Japan’s Akihabara. Nadeshiko began 10 years ago as a moneymaking gimmick. Since then, however, Chizui has turned it into a serious sushi shop with a talented, all-female staff and a rich menu.
The world of sushi chefs in Japan is largely male-dominated. Additionally, a body of cultural prejudices against female sushi chefs have deterred many women from entering the industry. In her interview last month with The Huffington Post Japan, Chizui talked about how she and other staff have stood up to this discrimination.
It should shock no one that, as soon as that Huffington Post JP article dropped, the online hordes came after Nadeshiko. However, the brunt of the criticism wasn’t (supposedly) over the gender of the staff, but over what some called a series of “serious” errors.
Sleeves on Boards
The issues began when Twitter user @RyChi_S responded to the HuffPo JP article with a link to a video of Nadeshiko’s shop that HuffPo posted on YouTube. Nadeshiko’s staff eschews the white clothes (白衣; hakui) worn by “traditional” sushi chefs; the staff all dress in kimonos. In one scene, RyChi_S notes, Chizui’s drooping kimono sleeves come in contact with the cutting surface. Does Nadeshiko, they ask, have their clothes cleaned whenever this happens?
Chizui responded by accusing the user of “fault-finding”, and said that kimonos are sent out once a week for cleaning. That wasn’t enough to quell the ensuing outcry.
That wasn’t all, however. Another user found a video segment where Chizui was gripping sushi while wearing a band-aid – which many users jumped on as “unsanitary.”
Hygiene is of high concern in Japanese restaurants in general. Earlier this year, several restaurant and convenience store chains made headlines when employees posted videos of themselves mishandling food. And hygiene is of special concern when it comes to sushi. Since nearly all the ingredients are raw, maintaining a sanitary prep environment is critical. So it’s little wonder that these tweets went viral.
Users were quick to point out that they didn’t consider it sexist to raise these issues. Many pointed to another shop in Ginza, Tsurotokame (つるとかめ), whose chefs are also all female. The key difference is “appearance”. Nadeshiko screams “Akihabara” with its colorful kimonos and advertising of its all-female itamae as a novelty draw. Tsurotokame’s chefs, by contrast, dress in traditional kappa. Furthermore, the store’s atmosphere fits people’s general expectations for a high-end sushi restaurant.
The Photo Controversy
Sadly, the knocks didn’t end there. Another user found Nadeshiko’s old Twitter account and noticed that many of the sushi photographs posted were taken from other sites. One post, for example, was taken from the Sapporo Beer Web site. Even worse, the photos had the Nadeshiko Sushi logo superimposed on them as if the photos were the original property of the store. Sapporo Beer confirmed that the photos were theirs and had been used without permission.
Twitter users promptly piled on, accusing Nadeshiko of deceiving customers by passing off other people’s products as their own.
Nadeshiko promptly deleted the old account. Chizui quickly issued an apology, saying the store’s former management company put the photos on Twitter. Chizui says she bears responsibility for leaving the old account alone, rather than deleting it or scrubbing its content.
Interview with Chizui on Subsequent Harassment
In other words, to say that Chizui Yuki’s had a rough couple of weeks would be an understatement.
The Japanese publication Business Journal caught up with Chizui at Nadeshiko to get her take. Chizui says she’s been the target of harassment since the article and its ensuing controversies broke. The store’s phone rings constantly. Its online reservation site is full of fraudulent bookings. And Chizui reports that she continues to receive a steady stream of hate mail. (I feel you, Chizui-san. I feel you.)
In the interview, Chizui apologizes for her “arrogance” in dismissing concerns over her sleeves touching the cutting surface. She says the Chiyoda Ward Health Department already gave her feedback on the incident. (Many Twitter users, apparently, lodged complaints about Nadeshiko to the Health Department.) She emphasizes that the Health Department has given the green light to all of the store’s other hygienic practices. But she also says that, based on the current controversy and a review of Nadeshiko’s public media, she continues to make improvements above and beyond the Health Department’s clearance.
Chizui further pushes back on criticism of her store’s use of kimonos. “The white outfits [worn by other sushi chefs] are fine….But it’s not like they came from the Edo era [when modern sushi was invented].” On this point, Chizui is correct. According to an article in the Japanese government’s Collaborative Records Database, sushi chefs moved from wearing short-sleeved haori (半纏; hanten) to wearing their current white uniforms (白衣; hakui) only after the Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
While apologetic, Chizui is keeping her head high. She vows to continue her campaign to make the world of sushi more accessible to women:
私は、女性の職人さんにとって目指しやすい社会にしたいです。いろんなメディアで日本の寿司文化は取り上げられています。どれも「厳しい世界」だと強調していますよね。そんな状況で、寿司学校を出た女性はみんな海外に行ってしまいます。日本のルールが厳しすぎることが原因です。いわゆる男性中心のルールで今までやってきて。。。。だからまず、女性だけで力をつけて、やりやすいルールを見つけて、女性寿司職人という職業が特別な一部の人ではなく、どんな方でも目指しやすく、ちゃんと稼げる仕事にしたいと思っています。
As a sushi chef, I want to aim for a society where women can become chefs. Japan’s sushi culture is discussed in various media. They all emphasize what a “strict” world it is. All of our female sushi chefs are going overseas because of these conditions. That’s because Japan’s rules are overly strict. We’re still abiding by rules that focus on men. That’s why I want us women to put our all into it, find easier-to-follow rules, and create profitable jobs for female sushi chef businesses that anyone can aspire to, and not just the select few.
Sexism, or Standards?
The debate around Nadeshiko raises some complex questions. Is it sexist to criticize a store for “unsanitary” practices? Certainly not. Everyone who runs a restaurant should follow the same standards of hygiene and good customer service. No one would dispute that.
In this case, however, the “infractions” pointed out by Internet users don’t even rise to the level of health code violations. They’re innocent mistakes that are easy to correct. (Chizui pointed out herself that her recurring customers sometimes give her tips – quietly and in-person – to help her improve her technique and her business.) Furthermore, the rhetoric surrounding Nadeshiko online – coupled with the hate mail and the dummy reservations – is heavily sexist. One needs merely glance at the store account’s mentions to get a whiff of the awful comments users send their way. One such tweet, with over 4,000 likes, depicts “Nadeshiko Sushi” as a naked woman serving as a board for body sushi. (Tweet here. Content warning: nudity, which I have blurred out of the original photo.)
The fact is that Twitter users singled out Nadeshiko. Not just because the chefs are women, but because their boss had the audacity to point out the obvious sexism of the sushi industry. Rather than offer constructive feedback, Net users are digging up any fault they can find to bury Chizui Yuki and Nadeshiko Sushi. It’s proof that, while attitudes towards female sushi chefs in Japan may be changing, society still has a long way to go.
