The Lexicon

Speak the counter's language. Every term a diner encounters — from the rice beneath the fish to the ritual that frames the meal — defined with precision and care.

Fish Rice Forms Ritual Counter
Fish 魚
akami The lean, deep-red flesh of bluefin tuna — the loin cut, prized for its clean, iron-rich flavour and firm texture. The purist's choice. chūtoro Medium-fatty tuna from the belly or upper back. The middle ground between the leanness of akami and the extreme richness of ōtoro — preferred by many for its balance. ōtoro The fattiest section of the tuna belly, and the word most guests arrive already knowing. Divided from chūtoro by fat content alone — there is no fixed line between them, only a chef's judgement. hikarimono Literally "shining things" — the silver-skinned fish category: kohada (gizzard shad), saba (mackerel), aji (horse mackerel). Cured, not raw; their acidity cuts through fatty richness. kohada Gizzard shad, and the shorthand for Edomae craft. It is never served raw, so what reaches you is entirely the product of the salt-and-vinegar cure — which is why chefs use it to judge one another. anago Sea eel — simmered until it needs no chewing, then brushed with tsume, the sweet reduction a shop builds from its own simmering liquid. Traditionally the last nigiri before the egg. uni Sea urchin roe, bought by the tray rather than in the shell. What separates one tray from the next is not only species and origin but whether the roe was treated to hold its shape. ikura Salmon roe, cured and served gunkan-style so the loose eggs stay on the rice. One of at least four different roes that English translation tends to collapse into a single word.
shun Seasonality — the peak moment of an ingredient's quality in the year. A disciplined itamae builds the entire course around shun, letting the calendar dictate the menu.
Rice 酢飯
shari The seasoned sushi rice — short-grain rice dressed with rice vinegar, salt, and sugar. Temperature, seasoning ratio, and firmness vary by house and define the chef's identity as much as the fish.
Edomae The Tokyo school of sushi, rooted in the Edo period. Characterised by curing, marinating, and cooking fish rather than serving it raw — a set of techniques born of pre-refrigeration necessity and refined into art.
nikiri A house-made soy sauce reduction — sake and mirin cooked off, then combined with soy — that the itamae brushes directly onto the nigiri. Eliminates the need for a separate dipping dish. tsuke A marinating technique in which lean fish — particularly akami — is cured briefly in soy-based brine to preserve it and deepen its flavour. One of the Edomae canon's foundational methods. akazu Akazu is red vinegar fermented from sake lees, not rice. It was the vinegar sushi used when nigiri first took shape in Edo, and some counters still use it. su-jime Su-jime is the salt-then-vinegar cure behind Edomae’s silver-skinned fish: two stages, a fixed order, and no fixed time for either one. kobujime Kobujime is kelp curing: sashimi pressed between kelp sheets instead of vinegar. It works on lean white fish and squid through moisture and umami, not acid. jukusei Jukusei is deliberate ageing: holding a cured fish cold after ikejime, adding nothing, until its texture and flavour change. No fixed number of days exists. ikejime Ikejime is an instant kill performed at the point of catch, done by the fisherman before a sushi chef ever sees the fish. What it is, and why it is done. nitsume Nitsume, or tsume, is a dark reduction brushed onto simmered toppings such as anago and clam, built from their own cooking liquid, not a fixed recipe. aburi Aburi means searing a sushi topping with a flame, briefly and on the surface only. It is not one of the four historic Edomae jobs.
Forms 形
sushi The broad category covering all preparations of seasoned rice combined with fish, seafood, or other ingredients. The word itself derives from the adjective meaning "sour" — a nod to fermentation origins.
sashimi Sliced raw fish or seafood served without rice. At many counters, otsumami (snack courses) are served sashimi-style before the nigiri sequence begins. nigiri Hand-pressed sushi: an oblong pillow of shari topped with a single slice of neta. The chef shapes and seasons each piece to be eaten immediately, in one or two bites. gunkan Literally "battleship" — a cylindrical band of nori wrapped around shari, forming a cup to hold soft or loose toppings (uni, ikura, negitoro) that cannot be pressed into nigiri form. maki Rolled sushi: nori on the outside, rice and filling within. At high-end counters, a single hosomaki (thin roll) of kanpyo or cucumber often appears as a palate cleanser between courses. temaki A hand-rolled cone of nori, rice and filling, built to be eaten at once — the form exists because nori begins to soften within minutes of meeting the rice. kanpyo Dried gourd strips, simmered in sweet soy until lacquered and tender. The traditional filling of the kanpyo-maki roll — a palate reset and a mark of Edomae continuity in the modern omakase. nori Cultivated seaweed pulped and dried into sheets, essentially by papermaking. Toasted it is crisp and aromatic, but against rice it has about a minute before it goes limp — which is why hand rolls are handed over one at a time. oshizushi Sushi built in a wooden mould, weighted, turned out and cut into squares. Older than nigiri, it is western Japan’s form — made in advance rather than in front of you, and better for the wait. tamago The egg. A rectangular block of layered omelette, sweet and dashi-rich, conventionally served to close the nigiri sequence and read as a summary of the kitchen's patience. chirashi Chirashi arranges seafood over a bowl of vinegared rice instead of forming individual pieces. What separates a plated course version from a takeaway one.
Ritual 作法
omakase "I leave it to you." The diner entrusts the entire meal — sequence, pacing, selection — to the itamae. Not a menu but a dialogue, shaped by season, supply, and the chef's reading of the room.
otsumami Small, considered bites served before the nigiri progression — a counterpoint to the main course. Often sashimi, marinated preparations, or cooked items intended to be eaten alongside drinks. gari Young ginger, thinly sliced and pickled in sweet vinegar. Eaten between pieces to cleanse the palate. The quality of the gari — its youth, its gentle heat — reflects the house's attention to detail.
murasaki Counter slang for soy sauce — literally "purple." Used to avoid the word shoyu in the old Edo fishing districts. A single term that reveals whether a guest has spent time at the counter before.
agari The green tea served at the end of a meal — and sometimes between courses. Also used as slang for tea in counter vernacular. Warming, astringent, a signal that the sitting is drawing to a close.
sabi Counter shorthand for wasabi (from the contraction of "sa-bi"). "Sabi nuki" (without wasabi) or "sabi daku" (extra wasabi) communicates your preference without interrupting the chef's rhythm. misoshiru The soup course at a sushi counter, sometimes miso and sometimes not — and more often built from fish trimmings than from a general-purpose dashi.
Counter 板場
neta The topping placed atop the shari in nigiri — the fish, shellfish, or other ingredient that defines each piece. Quality of neta sourcing is a chef's primary competitive distinction.
itamae The chef who stands behind the cutting board (ita = board, mae = in front). At a sushi counter, the itamae controls every element: knife work, rice, pacing, and the unspoken tempo of the room.
toro The fatty belly section of the bluefin tuna — subdivided into chūtoro and ōtoro by fat content. The word also carries cultural weight: toro is what guests remember, what they talk about, what benchmarks the meal.

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