Interviews

1. Going to America after completing a three-year contract twice (Japanese)

2. Opening of Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo (Japanese)

3. Wanting to serve authentic nigiri sushi in America (Japanese)

4. Difficulty of spreading authentic sushi (Japanese)

5. Teaching how to eat sushi (Japanese)

6. Presenting nebuta from hometown Aomori at Nisei Week (Japanese)

7. Becoming a member of nikkei community (Japanese)

8. Why I became an American citizen (Japanese)

9. I’m worried about the future of sushi in America (Japanese)

10. Unforgettable words of my mother (Japanese)

Toshiaki Toyoshima

(b. 1949) Sushi chef. Owner of Sushi Gen restaurant in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.

Presenting nebuta from hometown Aomori at Nisei Week (Japanese)

(Japanese) Since I’ve lived in America for a long time, like many people do, I think about my hometown a lot - well, about Japan, too - and I wanted to bring something about my hometown to America, and “nebuta” was the one I got really attracted to. Since 2007, a company had performed it and when they were about to end we took it over from 2008, we asked the company to pass it over to us and started “nebuta.”

At that time we made something like this in Japan and brought it here, built it here and showed the real “nebuta” from Aomori to everyone at the Nisei Week parade, and people were really moved to tears – I cried, too, for I got so nostalgic. And because we had such an experience, we decided to do it every year.

Aomori (city) Aomori Prefecture California culture festivals Japan Japanese Americans Los Angeles matsuri nebuta floats Nisei Week (event) United States

Date: April 16, 2016

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Mistue Watanabe

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Toshiaki Toyoshima was born on August 21, 1949 in Aomori Prefecture. In 1962, he moved to Tokyo at the age of 16 and received his training to become a chef as a live-in trainee at a sushi restaurant, while taking evening classes at the same time. Later he joined Sanchoukai, a chefs’ association, and worked at a number of sushi restaurants. In 1973, he signed a contract to work at a restaurant, Tokyo Kaikan, in Los Angeles for three years, and moved to America. After finishing the contract, he went back to Japan once but was asked by Tokyo Kaikan to work for them again, which led him to sign another contract of three years and return to Los Angeles. Upon completing his second contract, he decided to stay in America, and in 1980, he opened “Sushi Gen” in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. He worked for the foundation of Aomori Kenjinkai (prefectural association) of Southern California and contributed to the development of nikkei communities in Los Angeles. In addition, he became the first chairperson of the Nebuta Performance Preservation Committee in 2007, and has committed to the inheritance of Japanese culture. In 2015, he received an award by the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles. (May 2018)