Sushi Akira: Discover Tokyo's Next-Gen Sushi Star Kazunori

Sushi Akira: A Unique Sushi Experience in Hiroo

Chef Kazunori Maeiwa is a next-generation star in Japan’s sushi world. He built his career at the one-Michelin-star Sushisho Masa and the three-Michelin-star Chinese restaurant Sazenka before opening Sushi Akira in Hiroo in 2019. The restaurant’s name is said to be taken from his grandfather’s name.

Tokyo’s sushi scene has recently entered a period of generational change. Just as rising stars like Saito, Arai, and Sugita once took over the mantle from giants such as Jiro and Kimura who dominated Tokyo sushi in the 2000s, today’s rising stars are delivering performances that rival those now-established masters. Maeiwa believes that if you were to name Tokyo’s top five next-gen sushi chefs, he would undoubtedly be among them. I once asked Mr.Maeiwa whether he keeps in touch with other sushi chefs, and he told me there aren’t many chefs close to his own age. Remarkably, as of 2026, Kazunori is still only in his mid-30s.

Unlike most mainstream sushi restaurants, he makes active use of fire. Quite a few of his tsumami (the dishes served before the sushi course) are cooked directly over an open flame at a hearth set into one corner of the counter. Among these, grilled botan ebi is his signature dish. Botan ebi is considered the most umami-rich — and one of the most expensive — shrimp used as sushi neta.

Another distinctive feature of this sushi restaurant is that the shari (vinegar-seasoned sushi rice) is swapped out partway through the meal, with the seasoning adjusted according to the fish being served.

The space itself is extremely small, filling up with just seven guests seated around an L-shaped counter. For foreign guests, the restaurant sets aside separate reservation slots exclusively for foreign customers during certain time windows. According to a friend who visited during the Japanese-guest time slot, there’s no difference in price or food quality between the two sessions — it’s just that reservations for the Japanese slot are harder to come by.

The wine list features well-known Champagnes and white wines, but the pricing isn’t particularly favorable and the selection isn’t especially diverse. The sake list, however, is a different story. It’s quite solid, featuring sakes that are hard to find at regular retail. Premium-priced labels like Aramasa, Juyondai, and Jikon are offered here at relatively reasonable prices. Unless you’re a local with a regular sake shop where you can buy these at retail price, drinking them here actually works out cheaper than what you’d pay on the secondary market.

Reservation:
https://www.tableall.com/restaurant/239
They do take omakase.in reservation but the seats are barely opened. Make your first visit through tableall (they charge 8000JPY per seat for reservation). The restaurant can assign you a reservation spot via instagram contact from your second visit.

Cost: 44000JPY (~290USD)

Reservation difficulty :
If you make a reservation through tableall in advance, you could probably get a seat on your schedule.