Four Seasons. Many Hands. One Craft.
Before an ingredient arrives at our counter, it has already lived a story.
It begins with the changing seasons—with water, soil, sunlight, and sea. It passes through the hands of farmers, fishermen, producers, and craftspeople who have spent years, sometimes generations, perfecting their work.
At Shota, we believe these stories are part of every piece we serve.
Through the rhythm of the four seasons, we honor the ingredients, places, and people behind our craft.
SPRING 春
ORIGIN
Everything begins with nature.
Spring is a season of beginnings.
In the mountains of Gifu, melting snow and pristine spring water nourish the fields as another growing season begins.
It is here that our Inochi no Ichi rice from Ryu no Hitomi is cultivated by a dedicated small farmer in Gero City.
Surrounded by mountains, the rice paddies receive morning sunlight when the plants are most active. Later in the day, shadows descend across the fields, naturally cooling the crops.
Water, soil, sunlight, and temperature work together.
Before our rice becomes shari, its character has already been shaped by the land.
Great sushi begins long before the counter.
SUMMER 夏
NATURE
We follow what the season gives us.
As the earth flourishes, so does the sea.
Water warms, currents shift, and different species reach their finest moment. What is exceptional today may be entirely different tomorrow.
This is why our ingredients are never chosen from a fixed formula.
Through relationships built over years with trusted vendors in Japan, we seek seafood according to season, origin, condition, and quality.
The chef does not command nature.
He listens to it.
At Shota, seasonality means allowing the ingredient to tell us when it is ready.
The season chooses first. We follow.
AUTUMN 秋
CRAFT
Nature provides. Craft reveals.
Harvest is only the beginning.
Rice becomes shari. Soybeans become soy sauce. Rice becomes vinegar. Fresh fish is cured, marinated, rested, or aged.
Behind these transformations are crafts refined through generations.
At Shota, vinegar, soy sauce, nori, and every supporting ingredient are selected with the same attention as the seafood itself. Each has a role—sometimes visible, sometimes almost imperceptible.
Edomae teaches us that preparation should never disguise an ingredient.
It should reveal what was already there.
Nothing added without purpose.
Nothing transformed without respect.
WINTER 冬
TIME
Some things cannot be rushed.
Winter brings stillness.
It reminds us that great craftsmanship is shaped not only by skill, but by patience.
Fermentation needs time. Aging needs time. Rice follows its growing cycle. Fish reaches its peak according to nature, not a schedule. And the hands of a craftsman become precise only through years of repetition.
These different journeys eventually meet at one place: the sushi counter.
Farmer. Fisherman. Producer. Craftsman. Chef.
Each leaves something behind in the final piece.
Our role is to honor everything that came before it—and serve it at exactly the right moment.
Many seasons. Many hands. One piece of sushi.
FROM THEIR HANDS TO HIS.
In 1999, I discovered Shota No Sushi—a story of dedication, discipline, and the pursuit of mastering an art.
I saw my own passion reflected in its pages, and a thought stayed with me:
If I ever opened a restaurant of my own, I would call it Shota.
For more than two decades, I carried that idea with me—learning, refining my craft, and staying true to one philosophy:
Never Forget the Original Intention.
That intention eventually became Shota.
My approach is rooted in traditional Edomae sushi, where curing, marinating, aging, temperature, and time are used to reveal the character of an ingredient. I respect these traditions deeply, while allowing thoughtful innovation to move the craft forward.
I believe every detail matters. The temperature of the shari, the balance of vinegar, the texture of the nori, the depth of the soy sauce, and the precise moment a piece of nigiri leaves my hand.
Every piece has a lifetime.
There is a fleeting moment when rice, fish, temperature, and flavor exist in perfect harmony. That is why each piece is served directly from my hand to yours—to be experienced immediately, as it was intended.
More than twenty years after I first imagined its name, Shota became a reality.
One year after opening, we were honored with One Michelin Star.
But the pursuit remains the same as it was in the beginning:
To keep learning.
To keep refining.
To never forget why I started.
— Cheng Lin
Chef-Owner, Shota