Tokyo restaurant Sushiya no Nohachi reportedly serves great sushi, but it is most famous for its gimmick – making the world’s smallest sushi with a single grain of rice.

Located in Asakusa, a slightly quieter part of Tokyo, Sushiya no Nohachi is the place to go if you want to enjoy the tiniest, most adorable sushi in the world. Each piece is made with only a grain of rice and a tiny slice of topping wrapped in the thinnest piece of nori. Every served piece is actually perfect, which hints at the amount of work and patience that goes into making them. They are the work of Hironori Ikeno, the chef of Sushiya no Nohachi, who came up with the idea in 2002 when a client asked him how small he could make his sushi. He answered, “as small as a grain of rice”, and proceeded to demonstrate that he wasn’t kidding. Over the years, the eatery became internationally famous for making the world’s smallest sushi.

Photo: Tamas Pap/Unsplash

Despite its size, miniature sushi actually takes a bit longer to make than regular-sized ones, because of the precision and concentration required to put the tiny ingredients together. That is part of the reason why Sushiya no Nohachi only prepares tiny sushi platters for patrons a few times a week and no more than five times a day, although they do sometimes make exceptions for foreign visitors who travel to the eatery just to experience the world’s smallest sushi.

“I had a client from Sweden come just to see my tiny sushi and the moment she saw it, she literally cried in joy,” Hironori Ikeno told Play Tokyo.

 

Interestingly, one cannot simply order the tiny sushi platter at Sushiya no Nohachi. It is served for free upon request with a regular-sized sushi course, which costs around $50. Considering the sushi served at this place is reportedly delicious, you should probably be more excited about that. Plus, it also justifies the gimmick that Sushiya no Nohachi is so famous for.