Choose the best answer:
When engineer Tsutomu Takada lost his job, he decided to make a complete change in his life. He took off his business suit and put on an apron – and started a course to become a chef. “I had always dreamed of doing this, even when I was an engineer” says Takada. “And now, here I am” he says with a laugh. He is a student at Tokyo’s Sushi University. This is the only university in Japan which is devoted entirely to teaching the art of sushi. What is “sushi”? It is Japan’s famous dish of raw fish, dried seaweed and rice soaked in vinegar. Traditionally, it takes decades of training to become a sushi chef, but Sushi University trains chefs in one year. As well as providing quick retraining, the university’s approach reflects a growing change in Japanese society – a move away from the tradition a way of doing things. “Society has changed” sighs university principal Katsuji Konkani. Sushi started as a sushi apprentice more than sixty years ago. “People today wouldn’t put up with the tough training I had. When I made mistakes, my teacher hit me on the head with his knife handle!” Sushi hasn’t always been a matter of studying hard and being hit on the head. It started in ancient China, where people preserved fish by packing it in rice and salt. They did not eat the rice. It is said that this process probably came to Japan between 300 BC and AD 300. Adventurous Japanese cooks began to serve the pickled fish together with vinegared rice. This combination of rice and fish was called “sushi”. The most important thing about sushi is that it has to look attractive. In fact, the most carefully prepared sushi meals can cost hundreds of dollars! There are 45,000 sushi businesses in Japan today, including take- away, as some people like to eat it for lunch in their offices. There are also cheap self-service restaurants, where customers sit at a counter which has different colored plates with different types of sushi on them. These plates move around the counter on a conveyor belt, and customers choose the sushi they want to eat. When they have finished eating, the waitress counts the colored plates and works out the bill. Mr. Konkani has made sushi for Japan’s emperor. He says sushi preparation is an art, but he also believes that Sushi University’s intensive course is necessary. “Of course people complain this is not the way to do it” he says, “but we tried to make it easier for those who wanted to learn about sushi, and for those who want to take it overseas”. Many of the students already have jobs lined up in places like Australia, Italy and Singapore.
But the course is really just the beginning of the new chefs. According to Mr. Konkani, it takes five, ten or even twenty years to become a top- notch sushi chef. “To make good sushi, you have to have skill but you also need a warm heart” he says.
2. According to the first paragraph, Tsutomu takada _______.
