Oral history interview with Kaku Makino and Julie Kano conducted by Kristel Peralta, Vanessa Concepcion, Ayrton Yamaguchi, and Stefani Evans on March 22, 2021 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Makino discusses his early life in Tokyo, Japan and becoming a chef. He recalls arriving to the United States in 1989, establishing the Todai (now Makino Sushi & Seafood Buffet) restaurant chain, and opening nineteen locations in California, Florida, and in Hawaii. Kano talks about her upbringing in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan and describes Japan during the Meiji era. She remembers arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2000 and the cultural change she experienced. Lastly, Makino and Kano discuss the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Description given with photo: "Hercules Wing Squeezes Through Town Redondo Beach, Calif. - School children throng to watch the 34-ton wing section of Howard Hughes' Hercules, world's largest flying boat, as it is cautiously engineered on house-moving dollies through Redondo Beach, Calif., on the way to specially built $200,000 dock at Terminal Island, Calif. Creditline (ACME). 6/13/46."