Why would you expect Jiro to be a good father? That wasn't what he was focusing on.

Of course it wasn't, and that's the problem. No one stole Jiro's semen and presented him a year later with a fait accompli of a bunch of babies: he chose to have kids, knowing that he would deliberately spend little time with them until they became useful to his monomania. They are means for him - towards cheap family labor (he thinks he is generous in letting them go to high school!), and then the restaurant succession. Yes, ignoring them may have enabled him to make slightly better sushi than everyone else - but is this something to laud? That's the question here about Jiro: was mutilating his life and family worth it?

I'm not sure I can answer 'yes'. It's just sushi. (And before you shoot back 'well, he certainly considers it worth it', remember that a heroin addict or a wirehead could say as much.)