No Tokyo travel adventure is complete without a taste of sushi, but what about taking an introductory sushi class in the land of Japan itself? An art form in its own right, to learn to make sushi takes years to master, and it takes a remarkably talented sushi chef to handcraft that perfectly mind-blowing bite of sushi. Still, this doesn’t stop visitors on their own Tokyo trip from seeking out the best sushi making class or sushi school and trying their own hand at playing sushi chef. During our own Tokyo trip, we were invited out by Morris from the Tokyo Sushi-Making Tour to do exactly that, and learn to make sushi for ourselves!

Here’s our Tokyo travel guide to taking a sushi making class in Japan!

Learn to Make Sushi at the Tokyo Sushi Making Tour

Oh you know that old saying: you give a person sushi, and you feed them for one meal. You teach a person at a sushi making class, and you’re feeding them for LIFE.

Okay, okay…that may not be the original adage, but it sure is true. Taking cooking lessons in another country is the souvenir that keeps on giving—even after you’ve returned to your hometown you can attempt to recreate the foods of the culture you visited. And who doesn’t love Japanese cooking and sushi? A sushi making class may not exactly be a Japanese cooking class, in that you won’t be using heat to cook the food, but it certainly is one of the tastiest Tokyo tours you can venture upon, and with the Tokyo Sushi Making Tour you can learn every step from preparing the vinegared rice to the proper hand motions for putting your sushi together in an intimate, homey setting. Make sure to watch our sushi-making YouTube video above to get a better idea of what the tour looks like!

An introduction to the art form of preparing sushi is a revelatory Tokyo travel experience that will inspire you to have a little dinner party with friends just to show off your new sushi chef skills. When it comes down to it, I can’t imagine a better food to study in Japan than sushi, even if for just one sushi class! 

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We ventured upon our own sushi workshop Tokyo experience in the best hands possible: the professional sushi teaching team of sushi chef teachers led by Naoya Morishita (otherwise known as Morris) at the Tokyo Sushi Making Tour. The kindest Japanese woman named Nat was our sushi instructor, and she was so incredibly helpful, friendly and funny. Nat spoke perfect English, and helped us each step in the way, giving us the confidence to try out our new sushi skills! She was even kind enough to surprise our companions with a birthday surprise!

If you want to learn to make sushi, this is the sushi making class to take. Morris’ Tokyo sushi making class has hosted over 4,000 international visitors since its founding in 2013. With a goal of helping Tokyo visitors create fantastic memories of their Tokyo travel in Japan by teaching the art of sushi making, you’ll definitely fondly remember the time you spend with Morris or another sushi chef teacher at one of their Tokyo sushi making classes!

For more information, and to arrange your own sushi making workshop, check out the Tokyo Sushi-Making Tour website.

Taking a Sushi Making Class

If you’re interested in joining the Tokyo Sushi Making Tour, here’s what you need to know. They offer small group sushi making lessons for groups under 8, as well as lessons for groups larger than 8 up to 60 people. Even better, you don’t have to bring anything to the tour: Tokyo Sushi-Making Tour will provide everything you need. Of course, don’t forget your camera and appetite! We joined a small group sushi making lesson with one other couple, and couldn’t have been happier with the sense of intimacy and friendliness in the smaller group. It was so lovely being in such an cozy group with friendly people (we all happened to be English teachers living abroad), and it made us feel more comfortable when we could see we were all struggling with the same sushi-making motions! 

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For our own sushi making lesson, we started by touching upon the manners of sushi in a fun competitive game setting—a very welcome lesson, I’ll have you know, preventing us from looking like complete fools as we traversed the Tokyo sushi foodie landscape for the rest of our trip. We were surprised with how much we knew—and didn’t know—about the famed sushi cuisine of Japan!

What else did we do in our Tokyo sushi making class?

After having our hand at learning the the manners of sushi, we went on to learn the method for making vinegared rice, the rich legacy of sushi in Japanese culture, some all-essential Japanese phrases, and of course, how to make a variety of sushi that you’ll certainly want to show off at home! My favorite part of the lesson? Digging into all that sushi we just made!

After your sushi making class, Morris is kind enough to send you photographs taken during the class, as well as all the recipes used so that you can recreate your sushi at home! I know I will definitely be breaking out a few recipes myself and see if I can make Nat proud!

Times and Prices for Tokyo Sushi-Making Tour

Here’s some more helpful information about your Tokyo Sushi Making Tour so that you can embark on your own sushi making workshop journey.

• Small group sushi lesson tours take place twice a day, in the morning (10 AM—12:30 PM) and in the afternoon (3PM—5:30PM) and take two and a half hours. Each lesson costs 7,000 JPY, and you must pay in cash when you arrive.
• Large group sushi lesson tours are more flexible, and you can choose the day and time you want to have your large group lesson. The price for 9-20 members starts at 7,000 JPY per person, and decreases with larger groups.

Don’t Let Dietary Restrictions Stop You From Making Sushi

If you have diet restrictions, just inform Tokyo Sushi Making Tour in advance and they’ll be happy to accommodate your request. They will provide vegetarian sushi for vegetarians, halal ingredients, as well as providing chicken to use in sushi if you’re seafood-averse. The lovely woman we were grouped with during our own sushi-making class was pregnant and still able to enjoy the lesson—using cooked ingredients only!

Location of Tokyo Sushi Making Tour

The location of the small group lesson is a 5 minute-walk from the Kita-Senju metro station. Kita-Senju is located near the popular Tokyo neighborhoods of Asakusa, Ueno, and Akihabara. You need to meet at the east exit of Kita-Senju station at either 10 AM or 3 PM, depending on your time of lesson.

Since the meeting place is located just outside the east exit of Kita-Senju station, the company requests that all tour members arrive by train instead of taking a taxi directly to the tour location. This ensures that no one has to wait for anyone stuck in traffic.

A visit to Japan will enthrall you with sensory overload, from the sights, the lights, the beautiful traditional clothes like kimono and yukata, and above all, the tastes! The opportunity to get our hands into the actual preparation of the sushi, in addition to being able to eat our work, was so rewarding, and such a fun addition to our Tokyo trip. Taking a sushi making workshop is perfect for couples travel, and family travel, since children are more than welcome to join the tour, and hey, even solo travel! The Tokyo Sushi Making Tour will certainly provide a fascinating insight into one of Japan’s most iconic foods. So roll up your sleeves, and roll up some sushi. Your hands, mouth, and stomach will work together to make memories that you’ll never forget!

Disclosure: This post is a collaboration with Tokyo Sushi-Making Tour, but as always, all opinions are very much our own!

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What kind of sushi do you want to learn to make?

Tell us in a comment below!