His father Jiro Ono's childhood experiences shaped his life. In the film, Jiro Ono doesn't want to talk too much about his childhood life. He only knows that his father made a lot of money when he was in the passenger-carrying business. Later, when the business failed, he collapsed. He drank all day and lost news of his father at the age of seven. I didn't attend my father's funeral. At the age of nine, Jiro Ono was homeless, so he had to enter the society much earlier than normal children to be self-reliant, work hard, and I don't know how many people would bully him. Years later, he became famous, and he even thanked his parents for their unsympathy forcing him to stand on his own early. He recognized the warmth and affection of human beings, and clearly understood the importance of independence and self-improvement. Even if he was beaten and scolded by the boss, he knew that he had to work hard, otherwise he would have nothing to eat. He even said, "Now some parents say no to their children and come back. Parents who say these stupid things, their children will get nothing." Then he talked about the family, he downplayed, "I have a very weak relationship with my parents, and I don't know my father at all." But later, when he took Zhenyi to his parents' grave to worship, he smiled absently, "I don't even know why I came here, neither of my parents took care of me", concealing the resentment in his heart. Instead, it was Zhenichi, who worshipped devoutly and said to his father, "You shouldn't say this in front of your ancestors, you will be punished." At least what Zhenyi said, shows that he does not resent his father's emotional indifference to the family.
The young Ono Jiro worked really hard. He was so young and could not do anything. There was almost no salary as an apprentice. When he married his wife, he had only 10 yen in the bank. Zhenyi talked about the waste of Coca-Cola when he was a child, it cost them several months of saving, and he still feels guilty for his younger brother. But more important than poverty is the absence of his father. Jiro Ono rushed to work and claimed to be "not a competent father, but a stranger in the family". I could clearly feel that Jiro Ono even had some proud expressions when he said this.
Zhenichi and Takashi miss college after graduating from high school, but Jiro Ono convinces them to come to the store to help, so they can't continue their studies. This year Zhenyi is 19 years old. Jiro Ono said, "I want both sons to inherit this line of business. They will both run their own restaurants, and I am stricter with them than apprentices, but this is for the sake of their future. I have been on this since the beginning. Think about it. I know that even if I leave now, they can keep going." But Zhen Yi was very resistant to the future his father had planned for them. He said he was looking for speed and that he had dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, but had poor eyesight. He also dreamed of being a racing driver, and for a while he thought he could really become an F1 driver, but his family didn't have the money to keep him going. He was forced to go back to the sushi road and watch his father make sushi day in and day out.
My father is someone who genuinely loves the sushi business. He said he sometimes dreams of sushi in his dreams. He said he never hated the job. He said I just love making sushi. He said he would suffocate if he stopped working at 85. He also taught others to "never complain".
Perhaps it was his father's pursuit of the ultimate in craftsmanship that touched Zhenichi, or it was the reality of life that killed Zhenichi's dreams. Zhenichi gradually recognized his father's pursuit of ultimate success. He said, "My father is very strict with himself, and we also hold ourselves to the same standard." Brother Ono also said, "I must not fail."
However, even the path of imitating his father was not smooth. His father's apprentice said, "It is very difficult for Zhenichi to inherit his father's mantle. Even if he can make sushi of the same level, he will be regarded as inferior to Erlang. He can only make twice as good as Erlang. Only then can they be regarded as equals. This shows how influential his father is. Sometimes his father's achievements are too high, and his son will be dwarfed in comparison." He even felt that "it will become difficult to run the restaurant after Erlang leaves the restaurant." As soon as Zhen understood this reality, he started repetitive work like his father.
In the documentary, David Jaber gave Zhen a lot of close-up shots. He often repeated a simple task in silence, cutting sushi, shooting kelp, and tasting the taste of sushi calmly and seriously. When it comes to work, Zhenichi has been very peaceful: "We don't want to keep people away, the technology we use is not a secret, we just keep repeating our efforts every day. Some people are born with talent, some people have A keen sense of taste and smell is called talent. In this industry, as long as you are serious enough, you will become proficient in craftsmanship. But if you want to be famous, you need talent. The rest depends on how hard you work.” He will also comment on the work of the apprentice like his father. "He needs time to grow, he has a long way to go. But I think he will improve. It depends on his efforts."
When his father smoked at the age of seventy He suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized, and never went to the fish market again, in order to give Zhenyi a chance to pass the baton. Zhenyi has since taken on the responsibility of dealing with the fish market and picking goods. At the same time, the Liuben Honnogaoka branch of his younger brother Takashi Ono opened. Everyone thought Jiro Ono would retire, but his father's crazy and stubborn passion for sushi lasted a lifetime.
Speaking of honors, my father said, "People always think that the master who kneads sushi is the hardest. However, when the sushi arrives in my hands, 95% of the time is already done. So the easiest person steals the show." Zhenichi smiled helplessly, "Guests may still think he made the sushi." Father laughed sophistry "but you can think, what they do is taught by me".
But my father still said "I think I've reached the final stage". Father smiled honestly. Michelin always said that Jiro Ono's sushi is only worthy of three stars, but they didn't know that in the first Michelin evaluation, it was not Jiro Ono, but Zhenichi Ono.
Zhenyi said calmly. "Be always, look forward, go beyond yourself, always work hard, keep improving, work tirelessly to improve your craft, that's what he taught me."
said the father. "He just needs to keep going."
PS. Some people say that this film is intended to promote Zhenichi's craftsmanship, hoping that the audience will also support Zhenichi's sushi restaurant after Erlang quits. Whether it’s in the middle, borrowing the words of Erlang’s apprentice, “Zhenichi must be twice as good as Erlang,” or at the end, Erlang himself said, “Actually, 95% of the sushi was already done when I got it,” especially when the gourmet said “Recently I just heard that it was Zhenichi, not Jiro, who made sushi at the time of Michelin.” It does feel the same if you revisit it carefully. Condensed in the father's love, the subtle intentions scattered in various sections of the documentary and in each population are indeed difficult to find. After careful consideration, I doubt whether Zhenichi really makes sushi in the Michelin review, or is Erlang's deep fatherly love that is cunning and retiring. I tend to believe the latter.
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