The best sushi place that I've ever eaten at closed its doors permanently at 4:20 AM on January 17, 2024. On that day, Eiichi Ono, the 84-year-old sushi artisan/proprietor, who also happened to be my dad; passed away peacefully after a very brief illness. He was born in Kanagawa, Japan on March 10, 1939 and was the youngest child of 3 siblings.

After surviving childhood during WW II and growing up through the Occupation of Japan, Eiichi left home at 15 years old to apprentice as a sushi chef and create Japanese cuisine at a restaurant in Tokyo. There, he learned everything he needed to know about how to run a Japanese restaurant and of course, how to create amazing sushi.

While in his 20s, on the advice of a friend, he moved to the United States despite not knowing anyone or even knowing how to speak English. After establishing himself in the Little Tokyo area of downtown Los Angeles, California, he opened a Japanese restaurant in the area. Word spread quickly among the Japanese businessmen in the community, that a new Japanese restaurant had recently opened and served great food and ridiculously delicious rice! Soon, lines would form outside of his small establishment that often went down the sidewalk during lunch hours. When asked why Onosan's sushi was so good, he always responded with: "It's the rice." He never bought commercial size rice cookers because he felt that cooking large batches of rice at once diminished the flavor. Instead, his kitchen had 16 small Zojirushi rice cookers all simultaneously cooking rice! All this effort was used to preserve his style of rice for sushi making and it paid off. Shortly after his initial success, he opened 2 more restaurant locations called "Eisaku."

The name "Eisaku" was a play on his own father's name and a Japanese phrase for "bloom." Eiichi enjoyed tremendous success for years and enjoyed traveling and scuba diving as hobbies. Until one day, a personal tragedy forced him to sell off his homes and restaurants; while losing nearly all of his personal wealth. But luckily, the Eiichi Ono story didn't end there…everyone loves a comeback story and his story was great.

In the early 1980s, my dad was down and out. He lost his personal fortune as well as his businesses and homes. Then he met my mom, Masami. Shortly after, I was introduced into the picture and they decided to raise me outside of Los Angeles. Looking back, it felt like they "threw a dart on a map" and that dart landed on Palm Desert, California. Here in the Coachella Valley, he rebuilt himself from the ground up. He became a stay-at-home dad for me for a few years while he regrouped. He did the "dad things" with me like playing ball in the house, fixing/teaching me how to fix my flat bicycle tires, and just being there for me.  Then in 1989, the New Otani Hotel corporation "threw their own dart on a map" and decided to create a large Japanese restaurant in Palm Springs, California called: "Otani - A Garden Restaurant."

For years, Onosan told himself that he didn't want to open another Japanese restaurant but instead decided to apply for a position at this new high-end dining establishment! Soon after, he became the main sushi chef and the kitchen supervisor for the Otani restaurant. I can honestly say that there are not enough words to describe his dedication to that establishment. Through that dedication, he and my mom saved up, bought, and eventually paid off their home in La Quinta. I can recall on one occasion when they were closing on that house, that he couldn't leave work to sign escrow papers because he was so busy at the restaurant. Instead, the realtor went to the restaurant to meet him and had him sign all the escrow papers on the back of an aluminum baking pan in the kitchen in order to close the deal! Afterwards, he promptly went back to making sushi.

After nearly 20 years of working there, the Otani Hotel decided not to renew its lease and closed down the restaurant. By that time, my dad had worked 10-14 hours a day for over 30 years...and loved it! But he took that restaurant closing as a sign to retire and he did so in 2007. Since then, he finally learned to RELAX and enjoyed watching his Japanese variety shows, gardening, and traveled all over the world with my mom. Like clockwork every Fall season, they would travel to places like Hawaii, Japan, Egypt, and Peru to name a few destinations. In his retirement, he became a grandfather to my children, Asami and Kyu and also became our personal family sushi chef for countless family birthdays and holidays. The last time he made sushi for our family was exactly 1 week prior to his passing.

After dinner on that night, the family was playing a question card game and I had read a question off of a card that asked him: "What brings you joy to your life?" Without hesitating he responded: "Spending time like this with my family..."

Eiichi Ono was a man of small stature that commanded a large amount of respect. He was a man of few words but when he spoke it was memorable. He is reunited with his mother, and father that preceded him. Eiichi Ono is survived by his lifelong partner of 43 years, Masami Nakamura; his son, Dr. Tim Nakamura; his granddaughter, Asami Nakamura; his grandson, Kyu Nakamura and his elder sisters: Akiko and Kikuko.

Prior to his cremation, a viewing will be held in Los Angeles, California at Evergreen Cemetery on Friday, February 2, at 11:00 AM. There will be Shingon Shu prayers offered at that time. In his memory, we have decided to create a memorial scholarship to help sponsor a culinary arts student specifically learning sushi and Japanese cuisine. If you'd like to donate to the scholarship, contact Dr. Tim Nakamura through Fukui Mortuary Inc.

"Although sushi will never taste the same for our family again, God just got the best sushi ever!"