What is Jiro Ono's Net Worth?
Jiro Ono is a Japanese chef and sushi master who has a net worth of $5 million. Jiro Ono owns the Tokyo restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro, the first sushi restaurant to earn three stars from the Michelin Guide. He and his restaurant were the subjects of the acclaimed 2011 documentary film "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." Widely regarded as one of the greatest living sushi craftsmen, Ono is credited with innovating various modern sushi-preparing methods.
Early Life
Jiro Ono was born on October 27, 1925 in Tenryū, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. He was passionate about the culinary arts from an early age, and began working at a local restaurant when he was seven years old. Ono later moved to Tokyo to study as an apprentice, and in 1951 he became a qualified sushi chef.
Sukiyabashi Jiro
In 1965, Ono opened his own restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, in a subway station in the Ginza district of Chūō, Tokyo. Ono also served as the head chef. The restaurant, which consists of only ten counter seats, went on to earn major acclaim, and Ono was credited with innovating a number of modern methods for preparing sushi. In 2009, Sukiyabashi Jiro became the first-ever sushi restaurant to receive three stars from the Michelin Guide. Two years later, Ono and the restaurant were the subjects of the documentary film "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," directed by David Gelb. In late 2019, Sukiyabashi Jiro was removed from the Michelin Guide due to the fact it doesn't take reservations from the general public.
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images
A favorite spot of the late French chef and restaurateur Joël Robuchon, Sukiyabashi Jiro also served United States President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. The two world leaders dined at the restaurant in April of 2014. Some reports claimed that Obama didn't finish his sushi, but he ultimately described the sushi as the best he had ever had. Although Ono stepped down as the head chef and manager of his restaurant in 2023 due to ill health, with his eldest son Yoshikazu succeeding him, he remains the restaurant's owner. Around the time his son took over, the restaurant began serving a tasting menu of about 20 courses.
(YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images)
Personal Life
Ono has two sons named Yoshikazu and Takashi, both of whom are also sushi chefs. The eldest, Yoshikazu, succeeded his father as the head chef and manager of Sukiyabashi Jiro, while the youngest, Takashi, runs his own Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills development.
