I think with the increasing popularity of sushi the standards of sushi
prepped by non-Japanese chefs is increasing. I've had some fantastic
sushi prepared by a Nepali chef (Kawasaki in Baltimore) as well a by
latino chefs-in-training. In both cases they were trained by Japanese
chefs. The Latino chefs spoke to the older Japanese chef (papasan!) and
to the Japanese waitstaff in Japanese.

As far as 'formal' training goes, I don't know if non-Japanese chefs,
especially in the US will go through the whole long training process.
Do a few years count as formal training? I doubt it would in Japan.
Thus a 'trained-in-Japan' chef will have an advantage - just from the
longer training experience; this is more likely to be a person of
Japanese origin.


Das