【Reading】はなやよへえ

【English Name】Hanaya Yohei

Hanaya Yohei (1799-1858) is said to be the Edo-period sushi chef who established the prototype of the nigiri sushi widely enjoyed today.

He was born in Reiganjima, corresponding to present-day Chuo Ward, Tokyo. He lost his mother in childhood and also lost his father to illness. As a result, at age 9 he became a servant at a fudasashi (rice-broker) house in Kuramae. After working in the fudasashi business through his twenties, he experienced several trades such as a secondhand-goods dealer and a confectioner, and is said to have switched to the sushi business around 1810.

In the early years of the Bunsei era, he devised a nigiri technique distinct from the pressed sushi (oshi-zushi) that was mainstream at the time, and in 1824 raised the noren (shop curtain) of "Hanaya" in Motomachi, Ryogoku. He served customers nigiri sushi seasoned with wasabi, and that form is said to have been extremely close to modern sushi. Yohei's shop prospered enough to be counted as one of the "Three Great Sushi of Edo" (Edo San-zushi).

However, competing fiercely with peers in handling luxurious toppings ran afoul of the crackdowns of the Tenpo Reforms, and he was arrested and imprisoned along with other chefs. According to Meiji-period documents, the reason for the punishment is said to have been conger eel (anago) sushi. He died in 1858 at age 60. A memorial monument has been erected at the former site in Ryogoku, Sumida Ward.