When I was a kid, I have two dreams. I want to be a baseball player. Hometown, Hiroshima, has a Japanese baseball franchise team called Hiroshima Carps. You know, and then I want to be a sushi chef. I want to make own restaurant - sushi restaurant.

I've been making sushi for 38 years, and I'm still learning. You have to consider the size and color of the ingredients, how much salt and vinegar to use and how the seasons affect the fattiness of the fish.

I always have dashi in my refrigerator—it's the almighty Japanese ingredient.

I buy soy sauce and flavor it five different ways: with sake, mirin, sugar, kombu and bonito flakes. I use them on lots of dishes at home.

I'm not making art, I'm making sushi

New York is my, you know, second hometown.

No rules. Don't be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn't have to have rules. I don't like it that way.