Opening of Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo (Japanese)

Going to America after completing a three-year contract twice (Japanese) Opening of Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo (Japanese) Wanting to serve authentic nigiri sushi in America (Japanese) Difficulty of spreading authentic sushi (Japanese) Teaching how to eat sushi (Japanese) Presenting nebuta from hometown Aomori at Nisei Week (Japanese) Becoming a member of nikkei community (Japanese) Why I became an American citizen (Japanese) I’m worried about the future of sushi in America (Japanese) Unforgettable words of my mother (Japanese)

Transcripts available in the following languages:

(Japanese) And I worked there (at Tokyo Kaikan) for another three years, and before I realized, it was already around 1979. I couldn’t find a good reason to go back to Japan at the time, so I decided to start here. I already had a family then and decided to start business. It was just around that time when the construction of a shopping center called Honda Plaza in Little Tokyo started – it was just about the time when Little Tokyo was beginning to thrive. I knew that the place was going to attract many people, but we were in the outskirts of town, and some people were like, “Are you sure about this place?” And now we’re right in the middle of town. I opened my restaurant in 1980.

Date: April 16, 2016
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Mistue Watanabe
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Honda Plaza Little Tokyo shishi-gen