You arrive at a casual sushi or seafood restaurant on Shodoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea known for its connections to traditional Japanese food culture. As you settle in, your guide introduces the session and explains how the class will unfold, giving you a sense of what you will be making and the techniques involved. Your guide then demonstrates each technique — shaping rice, handling fish, and assembling both nigiri and maki rolls — before you follow along and replicate each step yourself. Your guide leads the session in English, helping you stay on track as you work through each style. You can ask questions throughout the experience. By the end of the 90-minute session, you have shaped your own nigiri and maki rolls using the methods shown by your guide. You sit down to eat what you have made, tasting the direct result of the techniques you practiced. The rolls and nigiri on the plate in front of you reflect the skills you applied throughout the class.