koji kimura

  REINVENTING SUSHI photos by CHIKASHI SUZUKI text by ANDRÉ MICHEL   In a nondescript building in the Tokyo suburb of Futako Tamagawa, Koji Kimura’s restaurant looks nothing like the culinary revolution he started in the country. A third-generation sushi chef, Kimura has forged his own distinctive path in a country heavily burdened by tradition. He went from pariah to celebrity. With two Michelin stars, he has joined the ranks of the best sushi masters in Japan. His craft? Jukusei, the ancient art of aging fish, but taken to radical extremes. His masterpiece? A 54-day-old raw swordfish sushi, perfectly aged, with an umami-packed flesh that dissolves like butter on the tongue. Trained initially in tempura, he opened his own sushi restaurant in 2005, only to face an empty dining room for the first three years. That was when he discovered a rotten piece of fish he was about to throw…