Mitsuhiro Araki

The Path

From there, he moved on to become chef / operator at Araki in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan (until 2013), a role that anchored him in one of Tokyo’s most exacting dining districts. Ginza, with its polished facades and sharp standards, offered a fitting backdrop for a chef whose work depended on precision and discipline. It was during this period, while he was running The Araki Ginza, that he asked Robuchon for advice on his overseas expansion. The detail suggests a chef thinking not only about the plate in front of him, but about how to carry a culinary language across borders without losing its accent. That tension between fidelity and adaptation would come to define the next stage of his career. He later became head chef / oyakata (sushi master) at The Araki in London, United Kingdom (2014–2019). The title oyakata carries the weight of mastery and guardianship, and in London his role clearly signaled more than technical command; it implied stewardship of a tradition, and the responsibility of presenting it in a new context. The move from Tokyo to London also underscored the international reach of his work, as well as the confidence required to bring Edomae sushi into another culinary capital. What is notable across these chapters is the steady progression from apprenticeship and operation to authority. Sydney, Ginza, London: each place added a different layer to the story, but the through-line remained the same—an unwavering commitment to sushi shaped by discipline, experience, and an eye toward the broader world.

The Work Today

His defining specialty is Edomae sushi. That concise description carries a great deal within it. Edomae sushi is not merely a menu category; it is a tradition rooted in technique, timing, and respect for seasonality and preparation. For Mitsuhiro Araki, it is the core of his identity as a chef, the craft by which he is recognized and remembered. In his hands, the specialty reads as both inheritance and practice: something learned, refined, and carried forward through years of work in different cities and under different pressures.

In Their Words “I asked Robuchon for advice on my overseas expansion when I was running The Araki Ginza.” The line captures a moment of ambition tempered by humility. It suggests a chef who understood that expansion was not simply a matter of geography, but of judgment, timing, and perspective. Here, his childhood memory opens a more intimate window into the making of a chef. The contrast between the everyday family table and the flavors of western cuisine hints at an early broadening of taste—one that would sit alongside, rather than replace, the classical discipline of Edomae sushi. It is a glimpse of the varied culinary world that shaped him long before the titles, the cities, and the international chapters of his career.