Sushi showdown: Women challenge one of Japan's male bastions

[yuiyoshida]

In this Aug. 3, 2015 photo, Yuki Chidui, sushi chef and manager at Nadeshico sushi restaurant, holds rice to make sushi at her all-women restaurant in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO (AP) -- Some jobs in Japan, a nation known for its poor record on gender equality, have been off limits to women for ages. The sushi counter, for one.

Sushi is emblematic of Japan's profound cultural influence globally. It has crossed borders, acquiring non-Japanese ingredients such as avocado in the process. That, however, is the limit of the cultural interchange.

Deeply rooted stereotypes such as the so-called "Edo-style" macho demeanor of sushi chefs and belief women's warmer body temperature leads to inferior taste have kept sushi preparation an almost exclusively male domain in Japan.

But some women are out to challenge tradition. They're learning the art of sushi at a time when the government is emphasizing a greater role for women to offset Japan's shrinking workforce.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20150813p2g00m0fe050000c.html