Scott Brons

Dr.’s Alison and Prill

Engagements

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

In Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the subjects portray a complex father-son relationship

juxtaposed against the focus on a master and his craft. These two dynamics are fueled by their

commonality, food. Parental relationships are founded on the child’s necessity for the parents to

supply food, water, and shelter. And in the specific artist’s medium, food takes the center stage.

The film finds interesting and subtle ways to frame these two subjects in a compelling way.

In the relationship between food and man, Jiro sits successfully at the heart of the story.

His 3-star rated sushi restaurant is praised for its consistency, simplicity, and perfect execution of

ideas. These pillars seem to inform the artistry of the man. The closeness to the ideal creates a

lock in which the master works. Finding loopholes, creative solutions, or innovating for newness

sake is not valued at all. The old man finds purpose in his sushi-making. For many years he

would wake up early to go to the fish market and speak to his specific sellers whom he had made

intimate relationships with in order to purchase the “best.” These sellers create a wild hierarchy

of food in this fish culture. The most expensive fish begin to define Jiro’s prices and create such

a intense price point that the food itself is impossible for the layman to eat. This type of high

luxury eating is deeply capitalistic. Cavenaugh discusses the food industry in late capitalism

(more specifically, American late capitalism). The “hands-off” approach to this industry creates a

push of tiered restaurants, sellers, and consumers. Jiro profits greatly from the existence of this in

Japan, the place of another capitalist economy.

 Jiro’s strange relationship with his son is informed by the traditional Japanese dynamics

of the family and Jiro’s success in his craft. His innate want for his offspring to succeed is nearly

biological, even primal. The want for “your own” to continue on your life even after your

passing is ancient. However, because of the abnormality in Jiro’s fame and the dissonance that

results from the traditional Japanese food type and the hyper-capitalist gains, the son finds

himself deeply troubled and often put out. The filmmakers capture effectively the tension that

Jiro feels, wanting to push his son to success and joy in his craft, but also the love he feels for his

son and the knowledge that he can sometimes be too hard on him.

Food’s place in the film takes more of a secondary nature than to the business and people

making the food. However, the sushi that Jiro and his son makes hold a fascinating dualism to

what I believe is at the heart of the film. The sustenance one receives from eating the sushi is

absolutely back-seat to the meticulously crafted flavors one gets from the consumption. In the

same way, Jiro doesn’t need to be a cook to pay the bills or to teach his son so his business won’t

fail. The real reason is that the sushi gives Jiro’s life meaning. He hopes that it will give his son’s

meaning as well. On Maslow’s pyramid, there is a clear discrepancy. The need for purpose is put

so highly in opposition to the physical needs of man- and the great irony is that former is only

found, for the subject Jiro, in the latter.