99-Year Old Sushi Chef Has 3 Michelin Stars
By Kelli Luu | 13 Aug, 2025

Jiro Ono has been crafting sushi for over seven decades and even at 99 years old he is still passionate about perfecting each and every piece.

This is Jiro Ono. He’s 99 years old and is known to be one of the greatest sushi chefs in the world. For decades, he has dedicated his life to perfecting one thing — the perfect sushi bite. 

Ono was born in 1925 in a small Japanese town, now known as Hamamatsu, and by the age of seven his parents sent him off to work. He worked at a local restaurant before moving to Tokyo to study sushi making as an apprentice. After working and learning from the bottom up for years, Ono had finally felt confident to run his own kitchen. 

In 1965 he opened Sukiyabashi Jiro in a Tokyo subway station which was small and intimate with seating fit for only 10 people. The restaurant offered a 20 course omakase style dinner with Jiro Ono preparing and serving each dish. 

His pursuit of perfection made him into a walking, living legend as Sukiyabashi Jiro is the first sushi restaurant in the world to earn three Michelin stars. Reservations are constantly booked and celebrities and notable politicians make sure to get their names on Ono’s list. Former President Obama dined at Sukiyabashi Jiro in April 2014 and called it the best sushi he’s ever had. 

In 2011 the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi was released and the world got to see who Jiro Ono truly is. In the film we learn how detail oriented Ono is, whether it involves noticing if a customer is left or right handed or knowing how long an octopus has been massaged for. 

Ono was 93 years old in 2019 when he was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the “Oldest head chef of a three Michelin star restaurant”. 

At 99 years old, Ono has two sons who have been learning the art of sushi making from their father for years. Yoshikazu Ono has taken over day-to-day operations at Sukiyabashi Jiro and the younger son Takashi manages his own Michelin-starred restaurant which is an identical version of his fathers’. 

Jiro Ono works alongside his son at Sukiyabashi Jiro still passing down his knowledge and techniques. He believes there is always room for improvement and perfection can never be achieved but that’s the exact mentality that drives him. Even after years of being behind a sushi counter, Ono still crafts each piece with the utmost care because for him the beauty of sushi is in the endless chase for perfection.