scaling and gutting the fish. prepping the kitchen. >> masa: cleaning bathroom, making sake for customers. >> anthony: right. >> masa: dishwasher. everything. >> anthony: for how long? >> masa: first two years. >> anthony: only in the third year, the rice. >> masa: [ speaking japanese ] >> anthony: and if you get that right, eventually, maybe, just maybe, the master will begin to teach you the next phase, how to stand next to him as a wakita, slicing the fish, eventually, eventually, creating pieces of nigiri for guests at the bar. of the dozen young men who work here, not all will make it t become a sushi shokunin. >> masa: oh, it's been a long time. >> anthony: to achieve that status of truly becoming a master chef. how many years? seven years to learn, right? >> masa: yeah. >> anthony: that's a lot of time. >> masa: a lot of time. >> anthony: a lot of work. a lot of pain. what was it like apprenticing here? hard? >> masa: his father was very tough. >> anthony: yeah? >> masa: very tough. at that time, his grandfather