About that person and Kesennuma.

Yoji Kuromori has been working as a chef at the famous Chinese restaurant "Easy, Food, Health, Beauty - KUROMORI" in Sendai.
Kuromori was featured in the global gourmet guide "Gault & Millau 2023" in March 2023 and received the "Grand Chef of Tomorrow Award." Furthermore, in November 2024, he won the Silver Award at the "15th Culinary Masters" awards, presented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and has a history of being highly acclaimed both domestically and internationally.
He has a deep curiosity about ingredients, and when it comes to shark fin, a luxury Chinese ingredient, he has been careful to distinguish the characteristics of each part and handle it carefully, expanding the possibilities of shark fin cuisine.
Finally, in September 2025, he opened a shark fin specialty restaurant called "Kesennuma-KUROMORI-" in Kesennuma, a shark fin production area, and moved to the city himself, marking a new step forward.
What motivated Kuromori to go this far? We spoke to him about his thoughts behind opening a shop in Kesennuma.

From Tokyo to Sendai and then to Kesennuma

Kuromori Yoji was born in Kanagawa Prefecture and raised in Hokkaido. He began his career as a chef at a Cantonese restaurant in Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo, and gained experience as a head chef at renowned Chinese restaurants in his twenties.

The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 prompted him to think, "As someone who works in Chinese cuisine, is there anything I can do to help the local community?" He has steadily built his career in Miyagi, pursuing Chinese cuisine that makes use of reliable techniques and local ingredients.
At this time, an increasing number of customers from all over the country were visiting "Kuromori - Fun, Food, Health, Beauty -" a restaurant he had operated in Sendai for 10 years, in search of "Kuromori shark fin." Meanwhile, Kuromori-san suddenly recalled an idea he had had for some time. "I wonder if it would be possible to open a restaurant that serves shark fin dishes in Kesennuma, a shark fin producing area."
In fact, customers who came from Kesennuma would sometimes say things like, "We want you to come to Kesennuma," or "We want you to open a shark fin restaurant." "I think there's a right timing, but one day I just thought, 'Let's do it,'" says Kuromori. And so, the new challenge in Kesennuma began to take shape.

Taking advantage of the milestone of 10 years since opening and receiving the "Cooking Masters Silver Award," he began looking for a property in Kesennuma. He considered running two stores, one in Sendai and one in the other, but ultimately decided, "Rather than doing both half-heartedly, I decided to put all my effort into Kesennuma and concentrate on livening up the town."
Thus, the decision was made to move to Kesennuma, the home of shark fin, and open a store there, bringing an end to the successful business in Sendai and embarking on a new challenge.

A shark fin specialty store that can only be found in Kesennuma

The Kesennuma restaurant serves a full shark fin course, from appetizer to main course. "I think 99% of people think that 'shark fin' is 'shark fin,' but in reality, each cut is completely different." Customers who order the course are shown samples of shark fin, labeled with each cut, and the characteristics of each are explained. "They're not all shark fin. Just like with beef, there's hanging, sirloin, and fin, and there are different types such as pectoral fin, dorsal fin, and caudal fin. There are also differences between types of shark, such as shortfin, mako, sablefish, and blue shark, and the amount of collagen, size of the fin, and thickness of the fibers all vary."

Kuromori's style is to change the way the shark fin is soaked and cooked to suit these differences, and create a single course that makes the most of the individual characteristics of each cut. While the Sendai store offered a full Chinese course meal, Kuromori says that in Kesennuma "people come all the way here just to eat shark fin, and it's precisely because we're in this town that we can offer a full course meal just of shark fin."

Furthermore, with each course, guests are given a menu with illustrations of the types of sharks and the parts of the fins. By looking at this, guests can learn that the flesh of the shark is used in fish pastes and processed products, and that the shark's skin is used as shark leather. Communicating this background is also an important step in passing on shark fin culture to the next generation.

All of the shark fin ingredients are caught at Kesennuma Port. They are processed by the local Ishiwata Shoten, and the fin never leaves Kesennuma until it is served at the restaurant. "It's a miracle that this luxury ingredient, which is acclaimed worldwide, is processed locally and served as the finest dish. I would be happy if local people also knew that Kesennuma has such amazing ingredients," says Kuromori.

Everything that has happened up until now has led to where we are today

Even though Kesennuma boasts the highest shark catch and shark fin production in Japan, there has not been a place in Kesennuma that offers this specialty store until now. For this reason, the opening of this shark fin specialty store has been called "Kesennuma's long-cherished wish," and Kuromori himself looks back and says, "It's finally here." "Even though Kesennuma is a shark town, there wasn't a single specialty store. I think it's being used in Chinese restaurants and ramen shops, but shark fin requires knowledge and skill, and you can't handle it unless you understand everything, from how to rehydrate it and cook it to how to make the soup," says Kuromori.
Kuromori himself has learned how to handle and cook shark fin through his experiences. And thanks to the numerous awards he has won, "Shark Fin Kuromori" has become a more widely known restaurant. Kuromori says, "Everything came together and made it worthwhile to open a specialty restaurant here in Kesennuma."

"To eat this dish" attracts people from all over the world

The main reason Kuromori opened his shop in Kesennuma was for shark fin.
Our goal was to create a restaurant where people could taste and experience shark fin, and to attract people to Kesennuma through this cuisine. We chose to go to Kesennuma rather than Tokyo or Sendai. By offering cuisine that makes people think, "I want to take the trouble to drive here and eat at least once in my life," we transformed the inconvenience of access into an "extraordinary experience."

By creating a flow where customers can enjoy a meal in Kesennuma, go sightseeing, and then enjoy dinner in Sendai the next day, it also contributes to revitalizing the entire region. For Kuromori, this restaurant is also a gateway to preserving Kesennuma's ingredients and culture for the future.

Kuromori's message is, "Please come to Kesennuma, taste the shark fin, and experience its charm." We encourage both locals and those from outside the city to come and experience the depth of Kesennuma's proud shark fin at "Kesennuma-KUROMORI-."

*Please refrain from reproducing any photos or text without permission.

Click here for previous articles in the "That Person and Kesennuma" series.