The Chef & The Daruma

A visionary chef grapples with his life’s struggle to make himself and his culinary creations palatable to a Western audience. He embarks on a journey of identity intertwined with the mythical presence of Daruma, a legendary monk from Japanese folklore – shaping a narrative that transcends borders, realities, and flavors.

Hidekazu Tojo’s invention of the California Roll introduced sushi to a western audience, but it wasn’t always this way: when he came to Vancouver in the ’70’s he faced a staggering amount of racism from locals, and sushi itself was seen as bizarre and foreign.

How much did he have to change about himself and his food to be accepted? We chronicle the hardships he faced, and his journey in search of identity, on the way to changing the perception of Japanese cuisine in the western world.

The Chef & The Daruma had its world premiere at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival, where we sold out all of our screening dates plus the additional dates that the festival added. It also won the Insights Audience Award.