Chizuko Kimura

Chizuko Kimura was born in Japan in April 1970, from a father businessman and a mother housewife.^[1] She has a sister.^[1] She grew up between Tokyo and Mount Fuji.^[1] She became a tourists guide and in 2004,she met in Paris Shunei Kimura, that had lived in France for around 30 years and became her husband in 2005.^[1] Chizuko Kimura settled in France in 2008.^[1] Her husband dreamed of having a restaurant and a Michelin start, but is diagnosed with a liver cancer in 2015.^[1]

Kimura was working as a tour guide in Paris when her husband decided to open a sushi restaurant in Montmartre.^[2] On June 9, 2021, Chizuko Kimura's husband opened Sushi Shunei, a small restaurant of only eight to nine seats.^[3][4][1] 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.^[5][6] At the time, she had no experience as a chef.^[7]

In 2022, their small restaurant Sushi Shunei was awarded a Michelin star.^[8][9][10] Three months later, her husband, Sushi Shunei's head chef Shunei Kimura died of cancer.^[5][11] Before his death, Chizuko Kimura promised her husband she would maintain Sushi Shunei's legacy. The restaurant lost its Michelin star the following year.^[5] The loss of the Michelin star encouraged Kimura to continue to improve.^[12] She kept training and studying, and visit Japan regularly to keep improving.^[7] She also hired the sushi master Takeshi Morooka.^[7]

In March 2025, Chizuko Kimura and Sushi Shunei were awarded a Michelin star.^[5] In earning the award, Chizuko Kimura became the first woman in the 120-year history of the guide to be awarded a Michelin star for sushi.^[13]

• List of female chefs with Michelin stars