This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the Center for East Asian Studies.

From the “Your Hands Too Warm to Box with Cod” files comes this little item: Traditionally, women were not allowed to train as sushi chefs. The mythology behind the taboo is rich and ridiculous: Menstruation causes an imbalance in women’s sense of taste; make-up interferes with women’s sense of smell; women can’t handle the work which requires hours of standing and taking the last train home; women’s hands are too small to create proper rice mounds; women’s hands are too warm which affects the quality of the raw fish. Uh huh. Well, the recent opening of an all-female sushi bar in Tokyo’s Akihabara district is doing some serious damage to the gender gap here in Japan. The manager learned in two weeks sushi techniques that men often study for years and her devotion has made this establishment oh-so-much-more than just a maid café with fish. What used actually to be su-he is now legitimately su-she!

From the Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.