“I had two different careers before I started my Sushi business. I used to be a librarian.
My wife and I visited New Zealand for the first time in 1994 to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We fell in love with this amazing country. After that, we decided to visit again and travelled around the North and South islands in a campervan. It was beautiful and we kept visiting until we decided to move here in 2001.
When we arrived, I decided to change my career and study carpentry. That went well until unfortunately I hurt my back and had to have surgery. That stopped me from working and forced me to change my career again! My wife and I had to find something else to do. She really loved Sushi so we decided to learn how to make it. It was a big change.
When my daughter started university, we moved out this way. I opened this shop in Howick in 2006 and we’ve been here now for 14 years. We opened our second Sushi shop in Remuera in March 2018 and my wife Sophie has been working there since.
We had a hard time in lockdown just like everyone else. I’d like to really thank my customers though for being so supportive.
Some of them have even given us tips to try to help us. In Korea, we are very respectful to our older people and we are respectful to them here too. We will often deliver Sushi to the old people in our community to help them. Our customers are our Kings!”