1. Jiro has always taken a very strict approach to his job, and he tries to instill this into both of his sons. He stated near the end of the movie that he was even harder on them during there apprenticeship, not to be mean, but to help instill the necessary dedication and work ethic they will need in order to be successful in the years to come.
2. I do not believe that Yoshikazu will ever be able to exceed Jiro's Gambari and him as a chef. While he has the benefit of having the teaching of his father's practice at an earlier age, he is of a younger generation and while he is still very hard working for his age, his youth shows through in small ways. For instance, his obsession with having very fast cars just shows some of his youth and I think it will be detrimental towards his ability to ever exceed his father. Also, because he was handed a well owned business rather than working it from the ground up, he will not be looked at as dedicated as his father and in turn will not do as well.
3. There were many scenes throughout the movie that showed Kenkyo. The most prominent one I remember was when Takashi was talking about his restaurant, while it serves the same product of his father's, will always be inferior and therefore must be sold at a lower price. Even though the quality is practically the same, Takashi humbles himself by saying he is not as worthy of his father for the pricing of the sushi.
4. I feel that Jiro is only important as a "figure head." He was the famous entrepreneur that started the business, and by having his years of dedication and hard work to back up the product, it gives it a more substantial ground to sell it at the price that it is. However, Yoshikazu is just as capable but to the public he has to be humbled because he is "not" his father.
5. Amae is present between the father and the son. There were many times when they were being interviewed by the producers and they showed their love for each other by joking around. Jiro, while he was a bit harder on him, lets him know that he did it only so he could excel in life. I think this shows more amae than enryo, while I can see why it could be argued the other way.
6. I think that Yoshikazu has very different Honne and Tatemae. I feel that he would want his father to retire so that he could take up the torch and move on and prove that he is capable of running the restaurant without his father being present. However, because it is more respectable that his father wants to keep working on till essentially the day he dies, he has a very different public view.
7. I feel that Gambari would actually never work in the U.S. It is too ingrained into our society that we deserve to have time to rest. Some examples of this can be seen through the tradition of sports such as baseball, the five day work week, and vacation time. So overall I see having this way of thinking being a big disadvantage, however I could see the advantage of it by instilling motivation in the younger generation. It seems that each generation seems to get lazier and lazier, so having this could definitely help with that.
8. "Once you decide on your occupation... you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of success... and is the key to being regarded honorably." -Jiro
I chose this quote because it shows the extent of his belief towards Gambari. It hits all aspects that he believes shows the amount of time and dedication it takes in order to be successful.
9. I feel that the hardest one to understand is Kenkyo. While I do believe modesty is a virtue, the extent that they go to to hold up this ideal is way to much in my opinion. If it gets to the point where it is more polite to tear yourself down, I feel that it is too much and I feel that many Americans would actually look at that as a lack in self-confidence. I know personally that when someone "humbles" themselves to the point where I feel they are just tearing themselves down, it angers me more than if they had been a braggart about it. I feel that the idea of a lack of believe in yourself is terrible and I hate it when people I know do that to themselves.
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