Tadashi Yoshida grew up in his parents’ restaurant in Seki, in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture. A career in food seemed likely, but becoming a sushi master was less certain. At 18, he moved to Tokyo and began an eight-year apprenticeship in Edomae sushi.
“When I moved to Tokyo, I had no idea about different types of fish. At first, I was just really full of panic and anxiety in Tokyo. I was like, ‘Why did I come here? Why am I doing this?’” says Yoshida through a translator. “I did want to be like my parents because I saw them working hard and I wanted to work hard. But one important thing to know is that Gifu does not border the sea. It’s surrounded by mountains, and it’s kind of a rural place. Tokyo is a huge city and I was just so lured by wanting to live in a big city that I wanted to go to Tokyo.”
Working with fish changed his outlook. “In my experience, if you handle fish, then you just really come to like fish, to feel an affinity with the fish,” says Yoshida. His appreciation for sushi grew with practice, too.
He returned to Seki to run his family’s restaurant, renamed Sushi-ya no Yoshino, with his parents for 18 years. Although he was the principal chef, his parents and their “unsolicited feedback” were never far away. By the time his father died in 2012, Yoshida was ready to go out on his own. He moved to Nagoya and opened Sushi no Yoshino, which earned Tabelog Gold awards in 2017 and 2018. At the end of 2018, he closed the restaurant to pursue a new challenge in New York.
“I left Gifu for Nagoya because I wanted to challenge myself,” says Yoshida. “I really want a lifelong series of challenging myself.” Yoshino opened in New York in 2021 after three years in the making and earned its first Michelin star the following year.
In New York, Yoshida gave himself the nickname “Edowan,” joining Tokyo’s former name, Edo, with “number one.” The name reflects his determination to keep improving.
