The competition could not possibly be more intimidating. San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than any other city in America, maybe more than any place on the entire planet.
Even so, at least two dauntless chefs from Japan have become major players in this town, despite the odds. Both men emigrated to California at the invitation of upscale restaurants impressed with their innovative work.
Yoshinori Kojima grew up in Zushi, close enough to the sea that at age 12 he used to go diving for abalone and octopus as after-school snacks. He began his culinary career at 17 as an apprentice chef in a French restaurant in coastal Hayama.