In the last couple of years, the sushi industry boasts an independence rush of young chefs. For fans seeking "favorite" sushi restaurants that they will keep visiting for a long time in the future, it is a pleasure to have more choices every year. Let's introduce the 10 prospective young chefs selected by TokyoTableTrip.

After four years of apprenticeship at "Sushi Araki" owned by Mitsuhiro Araki, who now has transferred his stage to London, he has now opened his own restaurant taking over the place "Sushi Araki" used to be. He only uses the best part of the tuna, throwing away all the other in the garbage, obsessively just like his master Araki. He also served apprenticeship at formal private dining restaurant "Kikunoi," so his tsumami menu is also great. Ichikawa uses the classic *Honte gaeshi" style when he makes his sushi, which is very rare for a young sushi chef to use. His elegant technique is worth looking at.

The Rookie of the Year Award 2016 among Tokyo restaurant scenes will surely go to Amamoto. He served a long apprenticeship for Nagano, the deceased chef of “Umi,” and his unique point is that he pushed his techniques to an even higher level through apprenticeship at “Gion Sasaki,” and “Shinohara,” top class Japanese formal restaurants. You can see his knowledge towards food ingredients in each snack item that he serves in his new restaurant. His cooking style is full of entertainment and joy, as he proceeds while presenting the ingredients to the guests, and surely his restaurant will gain as much reputation as “Hatsune zushi” in the near future. You can see that he is getting famous by the minute. You must visit while you can still make reservations.

After serving his apprenticeship at Kyubei and Sushisho, he opened his restaurant in 2015. As we have introduced him several times on TokyoTableTrip, he is a young chef gathering the most attention from foodies around Tokyo. Although he has good experience at famous sushi restaurants, he is not satisfied by just “inheriting” the classic style but through trial and error he tries to build his own “Arai style.” His obsession towards tuna, the star of a sushi restaurant, is also outstanding among others of his generation.

After ten years of apprenticeship at a casual sushi restaurant in Asakusa, he opened his own restaurant full of persistency in Shibuya, a city that is told that sushi restaurants do not prosper. Even though he has no background in a famous restaurant, he has made a restaurant that meets a gourmet's satisfaction by doing research - dining at other sushi restaurants every time he is off. We would like to make special mention of the good taste of his shari(rice). 2 types of rice are blended together, steamed to a rather stiff touch, and mixed with 2 types of red vinegar and 1 type of white vinegar. This original recipe is the best among all sushi restaurants in this article today.

A promising member of the young generation, he served his apprenticeship in Sushi Kanesaka, and Sushi Saito. At first acquaintance you will be overwhelmed by his 190cm tall height, but his attitude is extremely gentle, and his elegant technique resembles that of his master, Saito. The shari is rather small, and is light on the vinegar. His elegant sushi surely suits all tastes, but we have to say he lacks originality. However Ishiyama is still 32. It is apparent that he is one of the best in his generation, and we sure look forward to his career and how great a sushi chef he will become.

Takeuchi gathered attention from all over Japan as soon as she opened her restaurant in 2014, as the first “female” sushi chef in Ginza. After 2 years- her sushi, which duplicates that of “Shimbashi Shimizu” where she served her apprenticeship- has stabled. Her hikari-mono(shining fish, such as horse mackerel, mackerel, or kohada) and ni-mono(boiled sushi items, such as conger eel or prawns) are superb- hers overwhelms that of other young generation sushi chefs. It Is happy for sushi fans that she inherited the style of her master Shimizu and serves not only by omakase(set menu) but okonomi(a la carte sushi) as well.

After serving his apprenticeship at “Matsue” in Ebisu, he opened his restaurant in 2014. “Rinda” is named after a song of his favorite rock band. His omakase of 30-40 items is attractive, though what people fall in love with here is Kono’s friendly personality. He asks each and every guest what kind of sushi item they like, and arranges the menu items based on their taste. 20,000yen is enough to become full, drink a couple of rounds, and laugh a lot. It’s the perfect sushi restaurant to go casual with friends.

Jun Takahashi The youngest of all sushi chefs in this article, he is still 29. But do not underestimate him, Takahashi graduated culinary school at the top of the lest, and served apprenticeship at “Sushi Kanesaka” and “Sushi Saito.” At Saito, as young as he was, he was chosen to be chef de partie for the backyard- a true sushi elite. At “Sushi Takahashi” now, the tsumami menu is awfully amazing. Each combination of ingredients, each taste of every item shows that Takahashi has great sense. His issue is that compared to the impact of his tsumami, his sushi is not as eye-opening, but still he is 29. We look forward to his future.

Hashimoto is a talented chef who served as Sous Chef for his master Sugita, at “Miyako Sushi” which is now known as “Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita,” one of the most popular sushi restaurants of this age. As soon as this restaurant opened in 2014 it became one of the “Popular sushi restaurants always full with reservations.” The atmosphere is very comfortable, with Hashimoto with his gentle personality in the bar, tit does not have the tense atmosphere you often see in a sushi restaurant.

A sushi restaurant run by an chef who trained at the popular restaurant "Taichi." Here you'll find "manly" sushi that's quite sour thanks to the red vinegar used in the shari, perhaps 1.5x as sour as typical. While the restaurant is still up-and-coming as this is just its 3rd year open, it seems like a restaurant with the potential to follow in the footsteps of famous Edomae sushi restaurant "Shimizu."

A new restaurant opened by the featured chef of the 2 Michelin star sushi restaurant "Umi." The chef is still in his early 30s, but he makes very solid sushi thanks to his many years of training. The shari is made with a blend of 3 types of red vinegar and plenty of salt, giving it a good kick. Even though it just recently opened, customers clearly expect great things of this restaurant, and it's only a matter of time before reservations become hard to get.

This is a new shop opened by a former understudy of Arai, a popular shop in Ginza. It is doing well, with reservations booked 6 months in advance.
The shari is firm and seasoned skillfully with red vinegar. The neta is cut relatively thick to create sushi with a good substantiality.
Instagram is buzzing with pictures of this sushi made with generous amounts of expensive neta like tuna and sea urchin, but the flavor of the white fleshed fish and shellfish is also exceptional. We can expect even greater things from this shop in the future.

A sushi restaurant newly opened by a chef who quit working at the famous restaurant "Shimizu." It's surprising that a restaurant that hasn't even been open for a year yet was awarded a Michelin star. The traditional pieces, like kohada (gizzard shad), anago (conger eel), and kairui (shellfish), are done in Shimizu's style. This may be a good alternative for people who cannot visit Shimizu since they can't speak Japanese.

The chef here is extremely talented and has a bright future ahead, leading to correspondingly high expectations of them. The omakase course is priced on the higher side at 24,000 yen, but you receive excellent-quality sushi that is more than worth the price tag. The shari is made with a blend of 2 types of red vinegar and 1 type of rice vinegar, giving it a strong and salty flavor with a punch. Despite being a bit far from Tokyo, there are plenty of reasons to want to visit this restaurant regularly.

Among the many sushi restaurants owned by young chefs, this one truly demonstrates their bright and unique skills. The shari is made with red vinegar and has a sour finish. Lunch courses are priced as low as 12,000 yen, but the quality doesn't cut any corners, as the course comes with things like 4 pieces of hon-maguro (bluefin tuna) and high-class Higashizawa-brand uni (sea urchin).

This promising sushi restaurant is garnering a higher and higher reputation. The restaurant's steady chef is the 2nd generation from a local sushi restaurant, and his heavy research into ingredients and shari has helped him to increase the level of flavor from his sushi to near that of sushi from young star chefs in Ginza. Perhaps because of the restaurant's location, you may be able to just walk in and get a seat even late on some days, so that makes it a precious commodity in Tokyo, where luxury sushi restaurants are often booked up.

A sushi restaurant that has suddenly become popular with it's super strong set price of 5,000 yen for an evening Omakase. (Unfortunately, current price has largely increased to 18,000 yen)
The chef, who trained for some time in the popular restaurant "Sushi Arai", is quite the expert, and constantly provides sushi with great balance between the neta and shari, that anyone would find delicious. The "Ranmaru Maki" which is a thick roll of Torotaku (raw tuna and pickled daikon radish) that's beautifully topped with salted salmon roe and sea urchin, is becoming this restaurant's famous product.

The handsome chef here comes from the prestigious "Sukiyabashi Jiro." Despite being a young chef in his 2nd year of independent ownership, he continues to slip into fads, like using red vinegar, having slightly warmer shari, and shaping relatively small shari. However, I can say that his senses aren't questionable, as he does produce delicious sushi. His tempo, serving 18 nigiri, a bowl dish, and egg in about 1 hour, is also top-notch.

The chef here is a skilled sushi chef who spent over 10 years training at "Sushi Shin." After establishing his own restaurant, he crafts traditional "manly" styled sushi that is clearly influenced by "Shimizu." The nigiri lunch for 6,000 yen is one of the best in Tokyo. If you're a fan of nigiri, you absolutely need to visit at least once!

A new restaurant opened by an elite chef from "Sushi Saito." It is so popular already that less than half a year since its opening you need to make reservations several months in advance. The chef often visits the fishing harbors himself to help deepen his knowledge of his ingredients, and he actively pushes for new frontiers of Edomae sushi through things like using natural unagi eel in nigiri. The nigiri made are of the highest quality, using shari seasoned with rice vinegar and a bit of extra salt, and we expect for it to continue to evolve in the future.