Chizuko Kimura

Chizuko Kimura (born April 1970) is a Japanese sushi chef based in Paris. In 2025 she and her restaurant Sushi Shunei were awarded a Michelin star. With the award, she became the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star.

Biography Chizuko Kimura was born in Japan in April 1970, from a father businessman and a mother housewife. On June 9, 2021, Chizuko Kimura's husband opened Sushi Shunei, a small restaurant of only eight to nine seats. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kimura lost her job as a tour guide and joined her husband in the restaurant where she learned to prepare fish, cook rice and run the business. At the time, she had no experience as a chef.

In 2022, their small restaurant Sushi Shunei was awarded a Michelin star. Three months later, her husband, Sushi Shunei's head chef Shunei Kimura died of cancer. Before his death, Chizuko Kimura promised her husband she would maintain Sushi Shunei's legacy. The restaurant lost its Michelin star the following year. She kept training and studying, and visit Japan regularly to keep improving.