Rev. Richard Nozaki, 68, Passes
By Alex Isao Herbach
Rafu Staff Writer
Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007

Nozaki’s popular local eatery Reikai’s Kitchen closed after his sudden passing.

Rev. Richard Nozaki

Rev. Reiho Nozaki, a long­time friend to and respected pillar of the Little Tokyo community, passed away suddenly July 31 after suffering a heart attack. He was 68 years old.

Nozaki was born in 1938 in Los Angeles. At the age of three, he and his mother were forced into residence at the in­ternment camp in Heart Mountain, Wyo. There he was separated from his father—who was interned at Lordsburg, N.M.—until they were later reunited.

“Richard had lots of energy, he was full of enthusiasm for his community and the people living in it,” said George Takei, a friend since childhood when they were in Boy Scouts together.

After the war, Nozaki returned to Los Angeles. A man of diverse abilities and passions, he graduated from Los Ange­les High School in 1957 as a decorated scholar athlete. On the football field, Nozaki was a feared defenseman whose speed and tenacity was only outdone by his exploits on the track. In fact, his time in the 100-meter dash was a long-stand­ing city record.

Upon graduating from L.A. High, Nozaki enrolled at the University Of Southern California where he earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology. But after leaving USC, Nozaki found that his for­tune would not be dictated purely by his degree. Instead fate sent him to the place where he would concentrate most of his care and attention: Little Tokyo.

Nozaki began here as a dental techni­cian. He formed Pacific Center Dental Lab, which became a community mainstay until the early 1980s. It was then that Nozaki turned his attentions towards real estate. He became an agent and a broker forming the agency Pacific Investments (known later as Leasing Sales and Investments), which concentrated on property in the Little Tokyo area.

His success in this community was in large part to his strong character as well as his business acumen. Those who knew him—friends, co-workers, clients—say they were drawn more to his persona than to the services he offered.

“You could always count on Richard,” said Frances Hashimoto, owner of the Mikawaya Bakery. “He was very strong in his convictions but everyone remembers that impish grin. In all the years knew him, he never raised his voice at me. He was a good friend.”

On May 18, 1974, he was joined with the one person he loved more than his community, marrying Gingi Yew.

A man of multiple talents, Nozaki was also spiritually distinct. Following the death of his father Bishop Reikai Nozaki in 1978, Nozaki trained as a Buddhist minister and was ordained as a priest into the Jodo Shu order in the mid-’80s.

According to Yew, Nozaki’s proud­est achievement was in spearheading the campaign to move the Jodo Shu Betsuin to its current location on Third Street in Little Tokyo in 1992. Speaking to members close to the Betsuin and its relocation, all say that Nozaki was the most essential catalyst to its move. After he helped secure its new location, Nozaki remained a vital member of the Betsuin.

“He was a very well-liked person; he was very personable he got along with anybody,” said Tad Uyemura, former member of the Judo Shu Board of Directors. “As far as ministers go, that was ideal. He was an ideal minister. He helped the church quite a lot.”

In 1997, Nozaki provided yet another valued service to the community:
Reikai’s Kitchen. Though it never appeared on Jonathan Gold’s 100 Essential Restaurants list, his eatery alongside the Little Tokyo Towers was often bustling thanks to appreciative residents and various veterans and community groups who chose Reikai’s because of its proprietor’s magnanimous hospitality and distinctive sense of humor.

“It became a ritual for us,” said Min Tonai, a board member at the JACCC and a weekly visitor to he restaurant as part of a Korean War Veterans group. “As soon as Reikai opened we’d eat and enjoy ourselves. And Rich would come over and kid around and banter. He had a great sense of humor. He was a very giving, nice guy. He was not a namby-pamby guy. He was a real guy.”

Nozaki was awarded a plaque of appreciation by the Japanese American
Korean War Veterans at their installation dinner in 2006. His relationship with these groups endeared him to the community’s veterans as more than just a provider of food and conversation.

“He was a community icon doing service to the community by letting them congregate at his place,” said Sam Shimoguchi of the JAKWV. “He was a real supporter of all veteran groups. That will be his legacy. In his own way, he honored veterans. The Japanese community will be affected greatly.”

With the departure of Nozaki’s charm and presence, the restaurant will close permanently. Visitors will find its doors locked but a vestige of the warmth Nozaki provided his patrons and his friends remains. A note pasted to the entrance offers thanks to his customers for their patronage and support.

Though he will be missed by the community to which he offered much of his care and attention, those whom he has left behind will try to emulate the things which attracted them to him.

“I remember Richard as being a very resilient person,” said his wife, Gingi
Yew. “He would have setbacks and problems but he would always bounce back. He was a very caring person and was a great lover of people regardless of their age, race, creed, or color. He truly lived life to the fullest.”

Richard Nozaki is survived by his wife, Gingi Yew.