You arrive at a casual sushi or seafood restaurant on Shodoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea known for its connections to traditional Japanese food culture. As you settle in, your guide introduces the session and explains how the class will unfold, giving you a sense of what you will be making and the techniques involved before the chef steps in.
The sushi chef demonstrates each technique in front of you — shaping rice, handling fish, and assembling both nigiri and maki rolls — before you follow along and replicate each step yourself. Your guide translates the chef’s instructions and keeps the session moving, so you stay on track as you work through each style. You ask questions directly, and the chef responds in real time.
By the end of the 90-minute session, you have shaped your own nigiri and maki rolls using the methods shown by the chef. You sit down to eat what you have made, tasting the direct result of the techniques you practised. The rolls and nigiri on the plate in front of you reflect the skills you applied throughout the class.