Bringing peace through culinary culture,” has long been the vision of Noritoshi Kanai, chairman of Mutual Trading Co., Inc.
Tracing its origins to Los Angeles back to 1926, Mutual Trading began as a coop supplying Japanese food to a handful of grocery stores in the city’s Little Tokyo.
Nearly 90 years later, the company can claim to have introduced to the United States in 1964 what was once considered the pinnacle of exotic cuisine, “edomae” sushi, at Kawafuku Restaurant, the first sushi bar outside of Japan.
Now very mainstream and offered by more than 21,000 Japanese restaurants across the country, “edomae” sushi continues to grow in popularity domestically and internationally, bringing great culinary joy around the world.“
“I’m now 90 years old. I still think of Japanese food and its growing future as a nutritious, delicious and a culturally exciting food for the world to enjoy. It won’t ever disappear,” Kanai said confidently.
Today, Mutual Trading is known as a global ambassador of Japanese food. It’s that passion for authentic Japanese has made the company the premier distributor of Japanese food and alcoholic beverages in America.
– Originally prepared by Global Media for The Japan Times Special Report on Los Angeles 2014 (Credit: Jose Sanchez)
