The Best Sushi Making Class in Tokyo For Foodies

One of the absolute highlights of my month-long trip to Japan was my sushi making class in Tokyo. I mean… learning how to make sushi in Japan? Bucket list check!

I did a LOT of research to find the best sushi class to sign up for. I’m talking, hours of research and emails. I’m writing this sushi class review so you won’t have to do as much research as I did!

Ultimately, we used Get Your Guide to sign up for a multi-course sushi feast run by a local company in Tokyo. I’m relatively new to using Get Your Guide, but I had a great experience. I was even able to use the platform to message with the company about dietary restrictions (I’m gluten free – read more about their accommodations below).

You can book the sushi making class we did with Cooking Sun here.

As a side note, this isn’t sponsored nor an advertisement. We paid for our sushi making class out of our own pockets, and the company didn’t know we were bloggers. You can rest assured this review is 100% genuine (as always).

Sarah smiles with sushi. — Loving life with sake and sushi that I MADE MYSELF!

Why Do a Sushi Making Class in Tokyo?

If you are a foodie who likes to travel, then you hardly need me to explain to you why you should do a sushi making class in Tokyo. But if you need some convincing, here goes:

✓ Cultural experience

✓ Delicious food

✓ Immersive travel activity

✓ Learn skills you can easily use at home

I love to do cooking classes when I travel, but to be honest I don’t always make the dishes at home – they’re frequently too complicated.

Not so for this Tokyo sushi making class!

Both Dan and I had a goal to learn how to make sushi, to the level that we could recreate the dishes back at home.

I can happily report that since being home, we have been able to host multiple sushi dinner parties! If that is also YOUR goal, then I couldn’t recommend Cooking Sun’s sushi making class more highly. Read my detailed review below!

aerial view of two sushi plates — Our homemade sushi feasts!! (Note that mine is a bit different from Dan’s – because some dishes were adjusted to be gluten free).

Cooking Sun: The Best Sushi Making Class in Tokyo

We chose Cooking Sun’s sushi making class in Tokyo for a few reasons.

The class costs a competitive rate.
Consistently great reviews.
The menu. It’s extensive and delicious. I’ll include the full menu below.
Small class size. It’s limited to eight people, with three instructors, meaning you get personal attention and help.
Able to accommodate dietary restrictions (perhaps most important to me personally). I have celiac disease and must eat gluten free – which is quite challenging in Japan – and they did an excellent job of accommodating me. They also accommodated a vegetarian in our class. Scroll to the bottom of this post to read more about how they accommodate various dietary restrictions.

You can book the sushi making class we did with Cooking Sun here.

Sarah and Dan smile with their sushi. — Dan and I – very proud new sushi chefs!

The Menu

As I mentioned, one of the convincing factors for us to book this sushi class was the extensive and delicious-sounding menu.

Quite a few Tokyo sushi classes just include one or maybe two types of sushi. You are lucky if you get miso soup, and frequently that’s just served to you out of a box rather than teaching you how to make it.

Not so with Cooking Sun’s lengthy menu!

The menu included:

Miso soup: Special Japanese soup made with a homemade dashi broth and fermented soy (miso).
Sushi rice: The most essential sushi ingredient, which is more intricate than you might expect.
Inari sushi: Deep fried tofu wrapped around sushi rice.
Nigiri sushi: Hand-shaped sushi with fish on the top.
Maki roll sushi: Traditional Japanese sushi rolls with seaweed on the outside.
California roll sushi: American-style sushi with rice on the outside.
Tamagoyaki: Japanese rolled egg dish.
Sushi topping shrimp: Special prepared and cut shrimp to top sushi.
Sake: Option to pay a small additional fee for sake to accompany the sushi lunch.

We really felt that we got our money’s worth with this menu. Not only was it fun and educational learning how to make the sushi, but it really filled us up and was in my top 5 meals we ate in Tokyo.

Sarah smiles holding plate of sushi from sushi class in Tokyo — Gazing proudly at my sushi, haha.

Maki rolls made in Tokyo cooking class — Tuna and cucumber maki rolls! These gradually became my favorite type of sushi!

Our Experience at This Tokyo Sushi Making Class

Below is a bit about our experience at this sushi class, and what you can expect if you sign up for it, too!

Booking the Class

We booked the class on this page of Get Your Guide, which is how we found the class to start with.

I recommend that you sign up at least three weeks (preferably more) in advance.

We signed up about 20 days in advance and there were limited slots left. Originally we wanted to do the sushi class on our first full day in Tokyo, but it turned out only one class still had openings that week (our second to last day in Tokyo)!

So, like most things when it comes to Japan travel planning, it’s best to book far in advance.

I also contacted Cooking Sun to confirm that they could accommodate my gluten free diet – if you have dietary restrictions you must do the same. More information on that at the end of this post!

Two chopsticks on a shopping board. — My prep space at our cooking class.

Part 1: Prepping the Miso and Sushi Rice

Dan and I arrived at Cooking Sun’s studio after spending the morning at Tsukiji Fish Market (yes, it was a very fish-themed day).

Here is a Google Map link to their location. It was quite easy to reach by public transport.

We arrived about 15 minutes early, so we could meet our three teachers and I could triple check with them about gluten free things (ingredients, cross contact, etc.).

The cooking class studio was already set up with our individual prep spaces, and my spot even had special gluten free soy sauce in front of it!

Sarah's prep space at Cooking Sun sushi class. — Prep space!

Prep space Cooking Sun. — I liked that we each had our own burners.

Gradually, our other classmates trickled in. We were joined by a family from the Netherlands, a man from Australia, and a woman from Spain (who was vegetarian). With Dan being British and myself American, we had quite a cultural mix!

The sushi making class was divided into two parts, each taught by a different teacher.

Our teachers were:

Yuki: The manager, who organizes bookings and manages dietary restrictions.
Yuka: She taught the first half of class, introducing us to Japanese ingredients, dashi, miso soup, tamagoyaki, and sushi shrimp.
Megumi: She taught the second half of class, all about sushi and rolling techniques.

Sarah making sushi rice. — Making sushi rice – the stirring part is actually quite methodical!

Sarah making tamagoyaki. — Making tamagoyaki – I hadn’t eaten this before and it was SO GOOD!

The first part of the class lasted just over an hour, and was devoted to making the dashi broth, miso soup, tamagoyaki (rolled egg), and sushi rice. Basically, it was prep time!

As we learned, a lot goes into the preparation of ingredients, when it comes to sushi. Learning how to make sushi rice is pretty much the gateway to making sushi at home, so we really focused!

Sushi rice recipe at Tokyo cooking class — We got a booklet of recipes to guide us. As you can see sushi rice is more complicated than just cooking plain rice!

Part 2: Rolling the Sushi

After our miso soup and sushi rice was prepped, it was time for part two! Our teachers switched over, and we began the exciting process of learning how to roll our very own sushi.

I won’t go too much into detail here because I don’t want to spoil any surprises.

Sushi making class Tokyo - rolling sushi. — Dan preparing rice on his seaweed paper.

However, I will say that rolling sushi is simpler than I imagined it to be (hence, easy enough to replicate at home once you know what you’re doing!).

We took quite a few videos during the rolling process, which helped jog our memories when preparing sushi at home. I recommend you do the same.

California roll - sushi making class in Tokyo. — A “California” roll – AKA, rice on the outside.

Tuna maki roll. — A tuna maki roll – AKA, seaweed on the outside.

Part 3: Eating Our Handmade Sushi Feast

Finally, my favorite part of any cooking class: EATING!

Once our sushi and miso soup was all prepared, we each got the chance to do a little photo shoot of our masterpieces.

Sarah smiles holding the sushi she made. — So proud, haha!

At this point, we also got to order sake if we wanted it. Dan and I decided to split a sake, having never had it before, and it was honestly delicious. (We later went on a sake tasting in Nara, as we liked it so much!).

Sarah smiles and holds sake next to plate of sushi made in class. — Discovering a love for sake!

Sarah's hand holding glass of sake in front of sushi plate. — If you drink alcohol, I recommend doing the sake add-on just for the experience!

After devouring our sushi, and chatting away with our fellow classmates-turned-sushi-masters, I had to grab a photo with our lovely teachers. They were honestly the best, and I couldn’t recommend them more.

Sarah smiles with three Japanese sushi class teachers from Cooking Sun. — Me with our amazing Cooking Sun Tokyo teachers! Left to right: Yuki, Yuka, Megumi, me.

Gluten Free Sushi? Yes Please. A Note on Dietary Restrictions.

As promised, here is some information on how Cooking Sun manages dietary requirements. They are able to accommodate gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, and select allergies. However they DO need to be informed in advance so they can prepare.

Personally, I have to eat strictly gluten free due to celiac disease, and I found that they went above and beyond to keep me safe.

RELATED | Gluten Free Tokyo

The teachers had a deep knowledge of gluten and hidden sources of gluten – to the point that they taught me about things to watch out for in Japan that I wasn’t aware of previously. Here are some things they did to accommodate me:

Gluten free soy sauce
Gluten free vinegar for the sushi rice
Gluten free miso paste (using rice-base and NO barley)
Gluten free ginger
Used gluten free soy sauce for the tamagoyaki
Gluten free sake
Used gluten free soy sauce for everyone’s inari, to prevent cross contact
Separate pans and chopsticks to prevent cross contact

I was super impressed and can confidently recommend this sushi making class to people with dietary restrictions.

Two plates of sashimi ingredients. — As you can see, my gluten free ingredients were slightly different from Dan’s. I had special gluten free tuna (no soy sauce marinade), and corn (LOL) instead of fish roe (which is marinated in soy sauce in Japan). I also had a string cheese stick instead of crabstick.

gluten free soy sauce — Gluten free soy sauce.

Sarah smiles and holds her sushi. — Sushi master!

Cooking Sun Sushi Making Class in Tokyo: Final Thoughts

Honestly, our Tokyo sushi making class was one of the best things we did not just in Tokyo but in all of Japan.

I think you will love this sushi class whether you consider yourself a foodie, a home chef, or just somebody who’s curious and wants a peek into Japanese culture.

You can book the sushi making class we did with Cooking Sun here.

Have questions? Feel free to leave me a comment below!