Closure of Fishking Processors marks a new beginning for a JA family business.

Until then, Fishking was a family-run operation founded by the elder Kawaguchi, who passed away in 1987.

“He expanded quite a bit over the years from a mom and pop operation into a big corporation,” said Gary of his father. “Towards the end, before we sold to Nippon Suisan, our sales were right around $100 million and we were employing 700 people.”

Lucy Hamanaka sits at her desk at Fishking. She worked for the company for more than 30 years.

Masashi’s family was in the fish business from before the war, running an oyster and fish store in Seattle in the 1920s. A Minidoka internee, Masashi started with the Fishking Seafood & Poultry Company in Glendale in 1949 and opened his first processing plant on Second Street near Maryknoll Catholic Center. Masashi was recognized for his leadership both in business and in the community. In 1983 the Boy Scouts of America Los Angeles Area Council staged a tribute for Masashi, who was also active in the Japanese Language School Unified System, Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, and L.A. Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. In 1981 Masashi and his wife, Mitsuko led the Nisei Week parade as grand marshals.

Gary stayed on as a vice president after the 1996 acquisition when the family decided to sell the business. Kawaguchi has also followed in his father’s footsteps, taking leadership roles in the community. He is active on the boards of Keiro, JACCC and Nishi Hongwanji.

“It just got to the point that without sole ownership of the company, there are so many different shareholders that we just felt, rather than squabble over everything, let’s sell it to a company that we were hoping would take care of our employees,” Kawaguchi said.

The business continued to operate until last year when Nippon Suisan purchased a competitor in Georgia and decided to merge Fishking and close the L.A. manufacturer.

“In doing so they decided that operating here in California was so expensive that having the operation done back east would be much more cost efficient,” Kawaguchi explained.

In July, the once bustling plant was in the final process of closing. The offices were dark and a skeleton crew was finishing the last stages of the shutdown.

Lucy Hamanaka, a self-described “Girl Friday” retired after working for Fishking for more than 30 years.

“I really loved it here. People really worked hard and they took care of the employees,” she said. “It really was the best place to work.”

But the closure of Fishking is not the end of the story. Gary explained that he was able to purchase from Nippon Suisan the facility that produces panko, the Japanese breading.

“So I am now operating the panko facility so that kinda brought that back to the family business,” said Kawaguchi.

His company, Upper Crust Enterprises Inc., produces 60,000 pounds of panko daily and distributes nationwide.

“That kind of gives me a headstart to try and expand like my dad.”