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‘Local’ sushi varieties of the restaurant Miyake in Palo Alto, California, 1998.
Nobu, the name by which he is commonly known, opened his first restaurant
in Beverly Hills in 1987 and in 2006 operated a total of sixteen establishments
located across the United States and in London, Tokyo and
Hong Kong. 9
A strong Japanese community was not the only factor that in the
long run conditioned the popularization of Japanese cuisine in the United
States. The outbreak of the Pacific War and its aftermath has brought
‘Japan’ into the lives of every American; millions of American soldiers
acquired a first-hand experience of the country and its people. In fact,
the first non-Japanese customers of Japanese restaurants managed by
Japanese immigrants in the us were former military men who had resided
in Japan at the time of its occupation between 1945 and 1952. These individuals,
and their family and friends, comprised the hub of the clientele of
restaurants such as Tokyo Sukiyaki, which served up to 500 customers
daily. The establishment opened in 1954 at Fishermen’s Wharf in San
Francisco and was set up by Yasuda Shōtarō, who had formerly run a
florist shop in Oakland. 10
Strong economic ties also paved the way for the popularization of
Japanese cuisine in the United States. During the 1950s and ’60s, in order
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