1980, wow what a long time ago! Saba-ya was my first restaurant in Los Angeles. Everything was so different to Japan. A lot of Japanese people were moving to the US so there was an opportunity for me to start with a Japanese restaurant serving Japanese-American dishes as well as sushi and traditional menu items. This was a stepping stone for me. I could try things out and absorb the culture. Los Angeles has always been a very entrepreneurial city.

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