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Mitsuru Sushi & Grill has been a fixture on First Street in Little Tokyo for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\nMitsuru Sushi & Grill has been a fixture on First Street in Little Tokyo for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After nearly 50 years as a Little Tokyo mainstay, the venerable Mitsuru Sushi & Grill, known for its unique blend of Japanese and American food, announced that it will be closing and its last day of service will be Aug. 31.<\/p>\n
Originally opened in 1976 as a lunch counter in a space it shared with the Kyodo Drug Store at the same location, Mitsuru Sushi & Grill was run by Mamoru Hanamure and his older sister since its inception. Mitsuru is a full sushi bar and known for many dishes that combine breakfast meats like Spam, sausage and hamburger with Japanese rice, like its specialty \u201cgacha\u201d breakfasts.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor almost five decades, Mitsuru Sushi & Grill has been a place where members of our Little Tokyo community have gathered together,\u201d said Kristin Fukushima, executive director of Little Tokyo Community Council (LTCC). \u201cIn many ways, Mitsuru symbolized our community with its combination of Japanese and American food. Many Little Tokyo groups had their meetings in the restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Hanamure, his family in Japan were cooks or in the food preparation business. Coming to America, they found a home in Little Tokyo, seeing so many Issei and hearing the familiar Japanese language being spoken by so many of the locals.<\/p>\n
Once the drugstore moved, they had the opportunity to take over the entire space, and starting a restaurant was an easy decision. Hanamure, who had been the head chef, expanded Mitsuru Sushi & Grill into a full restaurant with booths and tables, and eventually a full sushi bar.<\/p>\n
Hanamure had previously sought to sell Mitsuru Sushi & Grill so that he could retire, but nothing was finalized. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of mixed feelings, but (my wife) Dora and I are still healthy, and I\u2019ve been having Dora work with me every day at the restaurant, so now it\u2019d be nice to take her to other places and if possible, I\u2019d love to go back to fishing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The business has been acquired by J-Pop Culture Caf\u00e9, Inc., a new restaurant operation company created by Little Akihabara Holdings, Inc. Hanamure expressed excitement for what the company will do because it\u2019s different, and he hopes it will be good for Little Tokyo.<\/p>\n
J-Pop Culture Caf\u00e9, Inc. co-founders Nobuyuki Yamamoto, president\/CEO of Little Akihabara Holdings, Inc., and Tetsu Shiota, president of Anime Jungle and co-founder of Little Akihabara Holdings, Inc., announced the transition at LTCC\u2019s August general meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMamoru-san and I have built a friendship,\u201d said Yamamoto. \u201cHe has shared many stories with me about the hardships faced by pioneers in building and nurturing the Little Tokyo community, as well as their deep affection for the Japanese community. Going forward, I inherit the spirits of Mamoru-san and all of (Little Tokyo), and our company will aim to contribute to the continued prosperity of the Little Tokyo community.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Yamamoto, one of the goals of the new business is to \u201cmake Little Tokyo a hub for Japanese subculture. As fellow Japanese community members, we have always considered how we can contribute to preserving the businesses and history of Little Tokyo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the closure of Mitsuru Sushi & Grill, Fukushima said, \u201cIf Mitsuru had to end, it is gratifying that a group like the Little Akihabara Holdings, Inc. partnership decided to step in to create something new and connected to Little Tokyo. LTCC looks forward to the J-Pop Culture Caf\u00e9 opening next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new enterprise will be operated by the J-Pop Culture Caf\u00e9, Inc. partnership with plans to resume restaurant operations in 2026.<\/p>\n
Saying Farewell:<\/strong> Next week\u2019s issue will include a feature on the legacy of Mitsuru Sushi & Grill, written by Chris Komai.<\/p>\n \n\tArticles for you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mitsuru Sushi & Grill has been a fixture on First Street in Little Tokyo for decades.\u00a0 After nearly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-150373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115038231294057710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}