The original sushi specialist

A decade after its founding, Yotsuba, the capital's grandmaster of sushi joints remains singularly focused

"When you are cutting, be incisive; when you are finishing, be sensitive," Kobayashi Atsushi says as he shapes a small glob the size of a golf ball in his hand. "It must be beautiful. In the art of making sushi, beauty equals taste."

Counting the time it takes to cut the meat, he can make one piece of sushi in about 10 seconds, he says.