From beautiful documentaries about Japanese sushi chefs to outrageous Americanized SUSHI movies
Sushi is a traditional dish that Japan is proud of. Its appeal has spread overseas, and there are movies based on sushi both in Japan and abroad.
This article introduces recommended sushi movies. Furthermore, in the second half of the article, we carefully selected movies that feature Japanese food.
1.『SUSHI GIRL』
「Unexpected female body sushi is here!」
A work directed by Kahn Saxton, who won an award for excellence in a short zombie film contest sponsored by zombie movie master George A. Romero.
After serving six years in prison for robbery, Fish is released from prison without speaking about his associates. To celebrate him, his friends prepared a feast consisting of a sushi platter.
She is treated to a “yakuza-style dinner,” but things change when Fish says he doesn’t know where the diamond he stole six years ago is. The situation spirals into madness.
The sight of sushi beautifully arranged on a supple female body is worth seeing. By the way, action star Shinichi Chiba appears as a sushi chef.
2.”Dead Sushi”
「Sushi is sushi, but cannibal sushi!」
This work is directed by Noboru Iguchi, who also directed the 2019 film “Flowers of Evil.” Rina Takeda, known as an action actress, plays the lead role.
Her main character, Keiko, whose father was a legendary sushi chef, aspired to become one herself. However, due to the difficulty of her training, she runs away and spends her days working at an inn in the countryside. One day, a suspicious man visits the inn and injects medicine into the popular sushi.
And the bloodthirsty man-eating sushi was born. Kate stands up to the ferocious killer sushi such as Toro Cutter, Iclarian, Aburi Thermo, and Ebizo. If you look at the transformed sushi, you might be able to reaffirm the value of delicious sushi…?
“Silver Screen Sushi Prince! ~Going to New York~”
「Even in New York, “I’ll hold onto you!”」
A drama version starring Kinki Kids’ Koichi Domoto was also aired. Yukihiko Tsutsumi, known for the TRICK” andSPEC” series, served as director.
Maizu Kono Tsukasa, a genius sushi chef known as the Sushi Prince,” travels to New York to become an apprentice to the sushi master Gengoro Tawara. However, his storeYajouhachi” is being targeted by the Mafia Peperoncino gang who are plotting to take over the land, and Tsukasa ends up getting caught up in the conflict.
Both the director and the lead actor agree to the ridiculous setting, making this a laugh-out-loud work. Also pay attention to the sushi situation in America.
“Jiro dreams of sushi”
「Perfect sushi is now an art」
This is a documentary film that follows Jiro Ono, the owner of the sushi restaurant “Sukiyabashi Jiro” in Ginza. The camera captures his eldest son, Teiichi, who was 85 years old at the time and is trying to master his craft, as well as his eldest son, Teiichi, who is trying to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father.
Sukiyabashi Jiro is a famous restaurant frequented by celebrities from around the world, and in 2014, US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dined there when they visited Japan. Director David Gelb was impressed with his sushi and followed Ono closely for three months.
In this work, you can see sushi that looks like a work of art. As of 2020, Ono is 94 years old, making him the oldest chef in Michelin history.
Movies featuring outrageous Japanese food
From here on out, we’ll be introducing some movies that feature some strange Japanese food that may have been misrepresented.
Blade Runner
A classic science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. This is a story about androids and humans called “replicants” in a future where planetary migration is possible.
It depicts a unique city with a mixture of cultures, and there are even Japanese signs inside. The main character, Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, visits a food stall and orders the owner, who speaks strange Japanese, to “give me four.” Deckard slurps the udon (something like) that he ordered separately after his host tells him, “Two is enough!”
In the version released at the time, due to editing reasons, it was unclear what the four wanted, but in a later version it was revealed that it was a grotesque fish bowl. The two were arguing over how many fish to carry.
“Sex and the City”
The drama “Sex and the City” became popular because it depicted the daily lives of women living in New York, and a movie was also made about it.
Samantha is dating actor Smith and plans a surprise for him on Valentine’s Day. What appears here again is the female body. Samantha waits for Smith to return home with homemade sushi on her body, but he ends up coming home three hours late. Samantha gets angry and throws a California roll at him.
Is it a kind of standard in America to have a female body?
ghost in the shell
This movie is based on the manga “Ghost in the Shell” by Masamune Shirow. The story is set in the near future, where cyber technology has developed and people have turned their bodies into cyborgs.
Major Mira Killian, played by Scarlett Johansson, and other members of Public Security Division 9 embark on an investigation to solve a terrorist incident that attempts to destroy Hanka’s cyber technology.
It was a Japanese restaurant where the president and other members of Hanka Corporation had dinner. There is a geisha robot and hologram fish swimming around, giving it a very futuristic and eerie atmosphere. Japanese sake and dishes that appeared to be Japanese food appeared.
