Yosuke Imada

The Path

Craft in sushi is built in stages, and Yosuke Imada’s early years followed that structure closely. He started as a part-time restaurant worker at Kyubey in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, where the pace of service and the demands of the kitchen established the terms of the work. In 1964, he became a sushi trainee at Unnamed sushi restaurant in Kobe, Japan, moving further into the routines that govern rice, fish, timing, and restraint. He then returned to Kyubey in Tokyo, Japan, as an apprentice, continuing the steady refinement that marks a serious sushi career. The path was cumulative rather than abrupt, and it led directly to his role as head chef of Kyubey.

The Work Today

At Kyubey in Tokyo, Imada’s specialty is still sushi, and the role carries the practical weight of maintaining a standard day after day. Head chef in this context means more than title; it means holding the line on service, preserving the house style, and guiding the room with the precision that diners expect from a tradition-bound counter. His own view of the work is direct and unsentimental. As he puts it, “The only things that are important are employees and customers, the two things money can’t buy.”

In Their Words “The only things that are important are employees and customers, the two things money can’t buy.”