22 teams gather, but only one can walk away with the title of best Kura Sushi chefs in the world.

From Iron Chef to Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Japan has long been intrigued by the competitive cooking concept. And so it was that on September 2, conveyor belt sushi chain Kura Sushi held the Kura-No.1 Grand Prix at a venue in the town of Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture.

Despite the “Grand Prix” name, the event is not, in fact, a race in which competitors ride atop the sushi plates that go around a Kura Sushi restaurant. Instead, the Kura-No.1 Grand Prix is a tournament to determine the top team of sushi chefs from across Kura’s many branches. 2025 marked the fourth year for the contest, and for the first time teams representing Kura’s overseas branches took part, making this a world championship.

When we arrived, the preliminary rounds were already underway, and though this was technically an intra-company event, the air crackled with the intensity of a major sports championship, with an excited announcer calling teams to the floor to show their stuff at one of four simulated kitchens.

A total of 22 teams, each consisting of three members, had gathered for the Grand Prix, 20 hailing from branches in Japan and one team each representing the U.S.A. and Taiwan.

Teams waiting to be called sat along the outer edges of the room, taking the edge off the atmosphere by snacking and casually discussing strategies. On the competition floor, though, it was a different story.

Each team was judged in three categories: fish slicing, nigiri sushi making and packaging (pressing the fish onto the blocks of rice and arranging the pieces into a takeout tray), and dessert making. Evaluators graded them not only on speed, but also on the aesthetic beauty of the food they prepared, adherence to the Kura Sushi manual’s directions in order to maintain quality and consistency, and even proper cleanup of the workstation after they were finished with the other tasks.

▼ For the preliminary rounds, all teams were required to make a bowl of shiratama cream anmitsu, featuring mochi dumplings, ice cream, sweet red beans, and sliced fruit.

Once all teams had had their turns, their scores were tallied to determine which three would go on to the finals, with the honors going to the teams from Kura Sushi’s Okuradani (Hyogo Prefecture), Jotoimafuku (Osaka), and Machida (Tokyo) branches.

▼ Team U.S.A. managed an eight-place finish (hence the sideways-8 pose).

▼ The members of the three finalist teams

For the finals, the teams would once again be evaluated on fish slicing, sushi forming, and dessert making, but the degree of difficulty would be ramped up for each. In fish slicing, they were now required to prepare 30 slices of salmon, double the amount in the preliminaries.

Again, both speed and precision were critical. Sloppily shaped or randomly sized pieces of fish would leave customers dissatisfied or even like they’ve been ripped off, so uniform cuts are an absolute must for a sushi pro.

Similarly, in the nigiri sushi forming category, the quota was upped from 15 to 20 pieces.

With rice dropping out of the dispenser, the chef had to add various toppings while pressing with just the right amount of delicate pressure to keep the piece firmly together but without any squashing or tearing.

With several different toppings to work with, the chefs used a cloth to wipe their hands when switching from one to the next, so that the flavors and moisture levels wouldn’t transfer from one type of sushi to another.

In the dessert category, though, the competitors really got thrown a curveball.

Unlike in the preliminaries, where every team made the same dessert, for the finals each team was assigned a different recipe, and didn’t know which one they’d be making until mere moments ahead of time.

▼ The teams randomly drawing their dessert assignments

This might seem like an unfairly tall hurdle, but innovative offerings are one way that conveyor belt sushi chains differentiate themselves from their rivals. As such, Kura is always developing new recipes, and the kitchen staff needs to be ready to start serving them as soon as possible.

They weren’t thrown totally in the deep end, however. After receiving their assignments, each team was shown a demonstration of how to make it, and also provided with a written manual explanation, mirroring what happens when the chain introduces a new item. Still, the team would have to put that knowledge into practical use right away, which they did by producing a beautiful Uji Matcha Parfait…

…Strawberry and Mascarpone Tiramisu…

…and Melon and Mango Fruit Tart.

When they finished each section, the teams slammed their hands down on the dramatically oversized signal button…

…and when everything was done…

…Team Machida was crowned the winner of the Kura-No.1 Grand Prix 2025.

▼ Team Machida brings their sushi-making hands together for a group high-five as their championship is announced.

Of course, with Kura Sushi being a successful chain restaurant, you can expect a certain baseline level of consistent quality no matter which branch you stop by, but it looks like if you’re searching for the best of the best, you can find it in Machida.

Photos © SoraNews24
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