So my girlfriend and I made a joint New Years resolution this year to watch one documentary a week for the entire year. This decision was motivated by the realization that unless I actively educate myself I will be contributing to the apathy of collective knowledge. An apathy which was highlighted by my recent reading of The Fountainhead. I’m sure if you follow this blog you will hear more about this. Think of this as a modern non-fiction version of Jay Gatsby’s resolution to “Read one improving book or magazine per week”.

Anyway, she and I agreed that we would take turns each week selecting the documentary. As of right now there are no further restrictions though we reserve the right to change it later. This blog will document our year doing this, although I will also post on other things.

So this week’s selection (her choice) was Jiro Dreams of Sushi. This film completely surpassed my expectations. It was a very interesting and beautiful story of an 85 year old Japanese native of Tokyo who started a sushi restaurant called Sukiyabashi Jiro. My favorite thing about this documentary is that it is much more than a film about sushi; it documents Japanese work culture, family, and what it takes to (to quote Suits) become a Gladiator of one’s profession. I also learned that I have no idea what makes good sushi.

What I’d really like to talk about though is the idea of what it takes to become a Gladiator of One’s profession. Jiro’s life is completely consumed by everything about Sushi. The opening lines of the documentary talk about how he regularly dreams about Sushi and then gets up in the middle of the night to create a new dish that he literally just dreamt up.

At the age of 9 he began as an apprentice at a Sushi stand and has worked the same job for 76 years! I want to emphasize that when I say work, I mean that he actually only takes a day off when he is forced to by a Japanese National Holiday or a funeral. He expects the same dedication from his staff which is made up of his eldest son and some other apprentices. His youngest son also apprenticed with him but later went to found another Sushi restaurant in Tokyo (though it is not as highly rated).
By all accounts Jiro is the preeminent Sushi Master in the world. His restaurant holds a three star Michelin rating. Which according to the French company which publishes the rating, the food is so superb that it is worth traveling to that country for. Jiro is also in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the oldest working chef with such a rating.

What is beautiful to me about Jiro is that he does not do all this work for money or fame or even success; he does it for his own satisfaction. He is one of those people who is willing to work harder than is maybe good for him to attain a perfection only he believes is possible. While this work ethic is admirable, I would really like to know; Do you think that he is satisfied? Do you think that he is happy with his accomplishments? One of the most interesting moments to me in the documentary is when his sons are talking about what it was like growing up. It was clear that they barely knew who their father was because he was never around. They relate a story where they ran and told their mother that a strange man was sleeping in the house because they did not know who he was. While the anecdote was humorous it was also a hollow laugh. Other than this story there was zero mention of Jiro’s wife and I am left wondering if she left him because he was never around. Is this what being a Gladiator of one’s profession means?

So these are my thoughts on our first documentary of the year. Please leave comments or thoughts concerning these questions or if you have any suggestions on documentaries worth viewing.

One follow up question; What do y’all think? Is it possible for a good chef to smoke? After all one needs such a good sense of smell and taste.