Chef Masa’s Journey from Tokyo to Sushi Masa in Singapore

Some chefs chase attention. Chef Masa chased something quieter.

Behind the eight-seat counter at Sushi Masa by Ki-Setsu, Nakano Masayuki works with a stillness you can feel. There is no spectacle here. Only fish, rice, and the steady rhythm of hands shaped by more than sixteen years of Japanese cooking. This is his story, from the disciplined kitchens of Tokyo to an intimate omakase counter tucked inside Cuppage Plaza.

Where the Journey Began

Chef Masa was born in Tokyo, a city that treats food as craft rather than convenience.

Tokyo teaches patience. In its kitchens, young cooks spend years on the smallest tasks: washing rice, learning the feel of a knife, understanding how temperature changes texture. Nothing is rushed. Everything is earned.

That culture stayed with him.

Over sixteen years, Chef Masa absorbed the details that define Japanese cuisine: the balance of vinegared rice, the respect for seasonality, the quiet discipline of doing one thing exceptionally well. These are not lessons you finish. They are lessons you carry.

The Move to Singapore

Chef Masa brought that discipline south, to a city hungry for authentic Japanese dining.

Singapore rewards those who understand craft. Its diners are curious, well-travelled, and drawn to genuine experiences over noise. For a chef trained in Tokyo’s traditions, it offered the right kind of audience: people who pause, who taste carefully, who return.

At Sushi Masa by Ki-Setsu, he found a space small enough to protect what matters. Eight seats. Dinner only. No distractions between the chef and the guest.

Here, omakase is not a performance. It is a conversation.

Inside Sushi Masa by Ki-Setsu

The restaurant sits at 5 Koek Road, #06-03 Cuppage Plaza, Singapore 228796, a short walk from Orchard Road.

Cuppage Plaza has long been a quiet home for Japanese dining in Singapore. Its unassuming exterior hides some of the city’s most authentic kitchens. Sushi Masa in Cuppage Plaza continues that tradition: a chef-led counter where every seat faces the work directly.

What defines the experience:

Eight seats only, intimate, unhurried, personal
Dinner-only service, full focus on a single evening’s craft
Seasonal menus, shaped by what the sea offers each week
A seafood-focused approach, the heart of every course

Omakase means “I leave it to you.” At this counter, that trust flows in both directions. Chef Masa reads the room, adjusts his pace, and builds each meal course by course.

The Ingredients Behind the Craft

Great omakase begins long before service. It begins at the source.

Sushi Masa works with Japanese ingredients and seafood flown in from Japan, including sourcing linked to Toyosu Market in Tokyo. Toyosu is where much of Japan’s finest catch changes hands each morning, a place where suppliers assess freshness with a practised eye.

That connection matters. It means the fish arriving in Singapore carries the character of its origin: the clean scent of the sea, the firmness of properly handled flesh, the subtle differences that shift with the seasons.

A winter course tastes of winter. A summer one, of summer.

This is the principle of shun, celebrating ingredients at their natural peak. It runs through everything Chef Masa serves, tying his Tokyo training directly to the plate in front of you.

Why the Counter Stays Small

You might wonder why a chef would limit himself to eight guests a night.

The answer is simple. Presence.

With fewer seats, Chef Masa can give each piece the attention it deserves. He can grill nodoguro over binchotan at the right moment, shape nigiri to serve the instant it is ready, and adjust seasoning to suit the evening’s fish. Scale would break this rhythm.

Instead, the experience stays close and considered. You watch the knife. You hear the quiet. You taste the result within seconds of its making.

This is what draws people back to omakase at Sushi Masa by Ki-Setsu , not size or noise, but focus.

A Quiet Standard for Japanese Omakase in Singapore

Chef Masa’s path from Tokyo to Cuppage Plaza reflects something larger about Japanese omakase in Singapore.

The city’s best counters share a common thread: chefs who trained slowly, sourced carefully, and chose depth over display. Chef Masa at Sushi Masa belongs firmly within that group. His work honours where he learned while meeting the expectations of diners who value authenticity.

The result is a restaurant that feels rooted, even far from home. Tokyo discipline. Japanese seafood. Singapore setting. All held together at a single wooden counter.

The Takeaway

Chef Masa’s journey is not built on headlines. It is built on repetition, respect, and trust.

From Tokyo’s demanding kitchens to the eight-seat counter at Sushi Masa by Ki-Setsu, Nakano Masayuki has carried the essence of Japanese omakase to Cuppage Plaza, one seasonal course at a time.

If you are drawn to craft over spectacle, this is a counter worth knowing.