Sushi chef glass ceiling for females?
As we approach the inauguration of the U.S.’s first African American president and potential Senate confirmation of the third female Secretary of State, my thoughts turn to equal opportunity in the world of sushi. During my 20 year tenure as a sushi lover, I’ve encountered many female sushi servers, managers, and even restaurant owners, but only ONE, count ‘em ONE, female sushi chef, and she was one-half of a husband/wife sushi chef team. What’s up with that?
So how did I start noticing this? Back in my early sushi-eating days, I was so hard core that I wanted to train to be a sushi chef. I asked my favorite sushi chef at the time how/where I could train to be a sushi chef. I thought he was going to tell me something ridiculous like “only Japanese can learn the secret art of making sushi,” but instead, he told me “women cannot be sushi chefs.” I couldn’t believe it, but nearly 15 years later, the lack of female sushi chefs in all my international sushi adventures suggests there must be some truth to the bias. Surely there are other females like me who dreamed of slicing and dicing from behind the counter, but they must not have found anyone to train and/or hire them. What gives? Does anyone know why women can’t be trained as official sushi chefs? Does anyone know of any female sushi chefs? Where?
