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|Page 10 The art of sushi withers under modern realities i by Ginny Parker Associated Press TOKYO ? To Katsuji Konakai, sushi is more than a i food. It's an art. It's a life. Konakai began his apprenticeship as a sushi chef at the age of 16. Two years later, he finally got to use a knife. It was four years before he was allowed to serve a customer. But those days are gone. Today, the guy behind the counter is likely to be wieldi ing a how-to manual as well as a knife. And the rice might well be rolled by a machine. Sushi, that symbol of Japanese taste, is undergoing a revolution of sorts. Chain restaurants are the fastest- UT - i j j growing sector of the busi- ^ tllC Old days ness. would roam tht . Chefs are often part- with a Irn timers. Even the ingredi- J ents are changing ? try toppings like fermented soybeans or corn, for example. Traditionalists, of course, are aghast. "Without at least 30 years experience making sushi, what can you really do?" Konakai scoffs. "There's no heart in today's sushi." But the trend is so overpowering that even Konakai has had to surrender. Now 80, he is an instructor at Japan's only school for aspiring sushi chefs, Sushi University. "In the old days, a sushi chef would roam the country for years with his knife in his belt," he said. At Sushi University, they can get a diploma in a matter of months. o i- i i t r xi l ousm nas Deen eaten m japan ior more man a nundred years. But because of the requirement for freshness, top-of-the-line sushi with raw fish toppings has generally been served only in tiny, exclusive bars at high prices that varied with the whim of the chef and the cost of the day's catch. Improved refrigeration and transportation techniques have dramatically changed that. Today, even bathers at hot spring resorts in the mountains can eat fresh, raw tuna sushi for dinner. At the same time, sushi chain-stores with names like Surprise Sushi and Sushi House Dai-chan are rapidly replacing classy restaurants as the cuisine's main producer. Profit, not tradition, is their main concern. Genki Sushi, one of Japan's largest chains, doesn't even try to imitate the old-style shops. Not one of the company's 154 stores employs a professionally trained sushi chef, and all fish starts out frozen, company spokesman Tetsuo Misawa said. B Hi mm i I r?j J7y fU fll aot/OdarSc jHr and post doc are availab II Please atte U The Gamei LAS to be symfc Chris DeGuido The Gamecock ^ "Our fish is cheap," Misawa said. "Isn't that good aters enough?" try is At restaurants like Genki Sushi, new chefs get behind nolog the cutting board right off. Other restaurants cut costs becai by hiring less-experienced or part-time chefs and serving L precut fish or machine-rolled rice. Geor After 43 years running a traditional sushi restau- pated rant, the owner of Edo Ichi, Epist ?, a sushi chef a s^hi bar fa Tokyo's trendy will! Shibuya distnct, last year tally i COllIltry for replaced his first-floor bar years ifp In lite hplt " with a serve-yourself con- housi Katsuji Konakai ^Mtand slash* prices work Sushi artist Eck, Ichi's business has "I v since tripled, and a second thusi restaurant is in the works. Lucai Meanwhile, the shop, straining to handle up to 500 cus- ators tomers a day, has discovered the best way to get new chefs Wedr serving customers as soon as possible: on the first day, savin show them how. thin^ "Until now, sushi chefs were too proud to teach, and day." beginners had to learn everything on their own by fr watching," said Edo Ichi chef Masaharu Tanaka, 40. "We're shot i now learning the value of teaching." digit? On that score, however, Sushi U. leads the way. migh Started in 1980, the school has turned out some 5,000 The c graduates ? mostly middle-aged men making a career from! change ? who have gone on to work as sushi chefs at home fiberand abroad. T1 But in the eyes of their teacher, they're still rookies. projei "People today think that sushi is just about rolling rice. the si It's not that easy," Konakai says. sic tec Konakai would know. Edisc He has worked in the best shops, run his own restau- Geor^ rant, and served sushi to two emperors and four prime mm s ministers during his 65-year sushi career. digit? Decades of sushi artisanship have taught him how to Instn judge the quality of a piece of fish with a glance, the taste bourn of a sauce by its color and what will go with rice and scopic what won't. inch c But, just as Van Gogh wouldn't eat his paintings, Kon- will t akai does not eat his sushi. ater c Or anybody else's. about "I don't like sushi," Konakai said. "I don't like anything $30,0 raw." digita flexil rF BBBBBP house Savannah River Company INTERNSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE or undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates :s in the science and engineering fields. A few positions le in the communications, business, and finance areas. nd the JOBFEST, March 16th at the Carolina Coliseum o learn more about opportunities available. Contacts: Michelle Nix 803-725-7610 Bernice Bryant 803-725-8408 cock tew tec kfi/1 SYP a 11U l/l V/ Michael Fleeman :iated Press VEGAS ? The curtain appears lowering on a longtime Hollywood iol ? the film reel, fith the advent of the digital theand projectors, the movie indusi embarking on the biggest tech;ical change since sound and color ne part of motion pictures, eading the revolution is director ge Lucas, whose eagerly antici[ "Star Wars" prequel, "Star Wars: )de I ? The Phantom Menace," 3e shown this May in four digiequipped theaters. In two to five 3, increasing numbers of movie es could go digital as exhibitors out technical and business prob'm uorv Hodir?afoH and vorv on. astic about the digital cinema," 3 told thousands of theater operat the ShoWest convention late lesday. He cited the "quality, the igs in cost and the ability to do js that just aren't possible toi digital cinema, the movies are on film and then converted to a il format, though soon the work t also be shot on digital cameras, ompleted movies are distributed studio to theaters by satellite, over optic cable or on special discs, le movies are shown on a digital ctor, a significant upgrade from ;andard film projector whose ba:hnology has barely changed since m's Kinetoscope in 1891. It used i ;e Eastman's celluloid film on 35 1 dock ? the same as today. One e il projector, developed by Texas 1 lments, creates a screen image by t cing light off 1.3 million micro- s : mirrors squeezed onto a square- I :hip. The cost of the digital tools 1 >e a pricey investment for the- p )wners. A digital projector runs r $100,000, compared with about a 00 for a standard projector. But t 1 technology allows theaters more e bility in show times and the \ I^H i 1/ U i n 1 IH ' 1 ' )^fficia^Bookstor^^JSCy^ j^Green^t^^ussemjous^M8?3^7^416^B Starting Salary ] Two yc c a h Must t De Tes Academy S If inter Chesterfield Cou Ch M hnology ra for fill ^^HSlllfi' H# W I ^Itf Mmm* MM if ^JPpj m -rK - 4 BBBIi^^^?r77?i?^HBBBBi lumber of screens showing a particuor mnxrin oinnn fV*nnfnrc o*?An'f 11rv*14- rwo? cxx xuuvit, oxxx^t; uicaicio aicn b iiiiiib id by a finite number of film prints, ing i AThile the technology will be a boost ing o convenience, audiences are likely to actr iee only minor differences in quality, tific ^ demonstration at ShoWest on plex Wednesday, with film and digital scenes qua] )rojected side-by-side on a big screen, it's i evealed digital movie quality is now tor ( is good ? and in some respects bet- ater er ? than film, with a cleaner, sharp- and ir image that won't show wear and tear ing 1 nth repeated showings. I w V 1 IMIIMIIMhlllllB 1 V ^ 1 ' '* 1 ^3 Do you want U % BEST J THE CL iuffl Chesterfield ( accepting app tw' for volice o J x : $28,264 (effective J Requirements: ^ars of ollege OR ctive duty military service iw enforcement experience >e at least 21 years of age adline: Thursday, April 8, 1999 ting: Saturday, April 17, 1999 Rart Date: Monday, September 20 ested in applying, please write to or call: nty Human Resource Management RO. esterfield,VA 23832 * (804) 748-1551 ~Z. I ionday, March 15, 1999 means m raol e ) * ^MP'it'l rhe only problem with digital ap ed to be color, with white tones taken a yellow tint, the blues becompurplish and skin tones giving esses in the demonstration an ar- ( ial, almost mannequin-like comion. "I was very impressed with the Lity. It's almost to the point where ready," said Mike Goakey, direc)f construction for Signature Thes, with 145 screens in California Hawaii. "I think the big issue is goto be the money end of it." I A 1 I r 1 1 a 99 HI o be the IN ASS? bounty is >/imtinrt c r V l/\~s 1^1/ %/KS I 1/kJ fficers. \ uly 1,1999) OR I / ,1999 BOX 40 Jit , *?