In this day and age I think that number has dropped a bit, especially for chefs outside Japan...but I think at least a couple years of study under an established Japanese chef would be required.

a stage is when you work in a restaurant for free for a day =P
something i learned in the restaurant i work at now xD
haha~
how do you like them culinary jargon?! =OO

a bit? >.>'''
the only 'itamae' now a days are like.... in their 40-70's
>.>"''
anyone younger than that has either done "american" sushi, or only did it as a part-time job =P

most no one these days even know what sushi is....
at least not in america =P

WOW!

You are taking a huge jump!

Did you manage to work out the fish quantity before opening?

That experience will give you good footing in marketing and staffing, but what you are missing is that you are dealing with a highly perishable stock. The damage that bad timing creates in fashion and banking is still somewhat salvageable. With fish, any loss is total loss. You have as short a time frame as in funds transfers that missing will not just be a partial monetary, but total loss to the investment. The only comparable business I know is a fresh florist. You have a limited and sometime unpredictable window to get your stock and then get it out the door. At least with flowers there isn't the risk of people getting sick.

yuujirou, you live in Texas, and until you can speak for all of the US, please don't. Where you live and where I live are very different places.

sooo o.o'
you do know some 20-30 year olds who are fully trained in traditional sushi?

I know a lot of Americans and Asian-Americans and Asians and Japanese that live in America that know quite passionately and in detail "what sushi is".

You don't need to be 40 to know what sushi is.

I don't doubt nor deny that there are some, if not many, out there that would love nothing more than to seek the best sushi possible. There are all kinds of those people for different foods. But, I was speaking more specifically of the fabrication of sushi, and how many "itamae" these days don't respect sushi for what it really is. Either because they treat it as nothing more than a job, or because of limitations set by the owners.
If that many people really knew "what sushi is" then why do we have so many cruddy sushi restaurants? And why are those cruddy ones thriving so well?

The reason why most restaurants suck, is because either the owner doesn't know shit about sushi, and just takes the cheapest route he can to keeping the business open (i can think of a few restaurants like that here), or the itamae just doesn't know what sushi is.

As to why they thrive? Simply because they cater to Americans. And... well.. any cultural food that is altered to cater to the masses of another culture... usually sucks...

Of course, this is all how I percieve things, and yes, it is a generalisation. So if you feel otherwise, please share.

I have never been to Texas, so i don't know how things are there.

However, here in Portland and Seattle and the rest of the Northwest your description applies as a minority. There are cheap sushi restaurants, and nice sushi (and Japanese) restaurants.

I am not going to try and convince you any further. If you have never been to the NW you don't know what there is in the way of sushi. (On the coast, Japan-trained chefs, etc.) then you don't know. San Francisco is awesome, too for sushi.

So again, talk about your city or state, but please don't say "America" when crapping on the American sushi scene.