On Wednesday, 3 September, Masayoshi Kazato, in association with leading seafood restaurant Ocean Basket and soy sauce partner Yamasa, will host a unique sushi seminar at The Venue, Melrose Arch in Gauteng. This once-in-a-lifetime training event - endorsed by the Japanese government and attended by the Ambassador of Japan - will be open to sushi lovers hungry to learn the history of sushi, essential knife skills and expert preparation techniques at the hands of one of the world's most renowned sushi chefs. Ocean Basket will also be included selected CSI projects to join the seminar. On Thursday, 4 September, the top 10 chefs from Ocean Basket will also get the chance to brush up on their sushi making skills when they undergo further sushi training by Kazato at the SACA test kitchen at the University of Johannesburg before he heads back home to Chiba, Japan.

Kazato began his career as a sushi chef at the age of 20 in Hokkaido, Japan, and trained at a number of locations before establishing the highly acclaimed Japanese sushi restaurant, Sakae Zushi. He is currently the director of the All Japan Sushi Association (AJSA) and executive director of the AJSA Sushi Skills Institute.

In addition to working as a sushi chef for over two decades, Kazato has presented a number of sushi technique seminars in over 30 countries across the world from California and Singapore, to Russia and France, and judged several noteworthy sushi technique competitions. He was the first sushi chef to instruct at the French cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, in London, England, and presented a dissertation on the evolution of sushi, which was published in Food Journal USA. Kazato acted as the editorial supervisor for the book Sushi Hygiene And Basic Techniques and completed the DVD, Sushi Fundamental Instruction, Manners, History.

Kazato also organises the International Sushi World Cup in Japan annually. Pepi Anevski from Sweden is the current champion and one might remember him from the 2013 Delicious Food and Music Festival. Kazato also lectures at universities and other educational institutions and participates in volunteer activities in the field of sushi.