Okay, so an hour and twenty minutes may be a bit too long to watch sushi on tv, but this film captures someone doing his proper job well and passionately, and there's nothing like it. Jiro says, "I feel ecstatic all day. I love making sushi" and "When I'm making the sushi, I feel victorious." Being successful is clearly not about money or about having to work less (Jiro is 85 and uninterested in working fewer hours)-- it is about making better and better sushi with better fish, an opportunity that achieving success provides. Working at the high level that he does allows Jiro to charge a lot and use the finest ingredients. His excellence comes from doing the same thing over and over and improving it gradually. He has perfected his craft, but never sits back and coasts.
Making sushi is a tradition in his family--it is a skill that is being passed from father to son. One of Jiro's sons is still his apprentice; another has started his own sushi restaurant, which is the mirror image of his father's.
One complaint: Jiro said: "I make the sushi different sizes depending on the customer's gender." Gosh, I would be pissed off if I went to Japan to eat his sushi (at more than 300 bucks per meal) and got less food because I"m a girl--I'm pretty sure I can keep up with the men when it comes to food.
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