The Sushiko Story
Sushi has been integral to my life since I was a little girl. My mother is Japanese, born and raised in Yokosuka, Japan. She met and married my father, who was stationed there in the Navy. After he retired, our family moved to Poulsbo; this was in the late 70’s. At that time, there were few Asian grocery stores or ethnic grocers. No Asians were living here yet, except the Japanese and Filipino Americans who settled on Bainbridge Island before WWII. Anytime there was a celebration, my mom would make sushi, which was the more traditional style ( no California Rolls back then). Nevertheless, it was a rare and delicious treat.
When I was in middle school, my mom decided to get a part-time job and applied at Market Place in Poulsbo, which later became the store we all know as T&C Markets. After several months of harassing them, she finally got hired!
This was when she met a great man, Jerry Nakata, a Nisei (second generation) Japanese American from Bainbridge Island. From Jerry, I learned of the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and how deeply it affected him and his family. I distinctly remember him telling me when it all happened, he was just a small child, so he didn’t understand why they were being sent away, only that they “looked like the enemy”. They lost everything, including their heritage, and I think that was something he and a lot of other Japanese Americans were not comfortable re-discovering until later on in life. My mom was able to help him do that, mainly through their shared love of excellent Japanese food, especially sushi. We would travel all over Seattle and the East side with my mom, Jerry, and his wife, Sue, trying out all the best Japanese Restaurants. This was the late 80s, and so many had opened by then.
My mom and Jerry introduced sushi to the Market; there was no place in the grocery store to make sushi, so they rented the kitchen in St Ola’fs Catholic Church in Poulsbo. That was my first foray into sushi making. I was on summer break from 6th grade, so I got to tag along, help fan, and mix the sushi rice. Years later, the Market would open their own sushi bar, which my mom went on to purchase with the help of the Nakata family, and after graduating high school and college and five years in the Marine Corps, I started my sushi career working for my mom. Together with many great associates, we helped introduce great sushi to the Poulsbo /Bainbridge Community for over 20 years.
My mom decided to retire in 2020, and that was when I decided to open my own sushi bar on Bainbridge so I could carry on the tradition of serving fresh, high-quality, authentic sushi to our wonderful community.