Pioneer restauranteur Nakanishi dies at 74

Friday, Dec. 11, 1998 | 11:46 a.m.

Sam Nakanishi, a native Las Vegan who spent much of World War II in a Japanese-American interment camp and 30 years ago founded Las Vegas' first Japanese restaurant, has died. He was 74.

Nakanishi, who long operated the Osaka Japanese Restaurant, 4205 W. Sahara Ave., died Sunday in Las Vegas.

Services will be noon Saturday at Palm Mortuary, 1600 S. Jones Blvd.

"It was like a miracle getting an authentic Japanese restaurant in town," said longtime Sun food critic Muriel Stevens. "At the time, the only ethnic food places were Italian and Chinese. So it was a real treat to have a tatami room where you took off your shoes and sat on the floor to eat."

Stevens said that in the 1970s and '80s, many of the town's movers and shakers frequented the Osaka to sample Sam's famous light tempura fried dishes. Among them was late banker Jerry Mack, who introduced Stevens to the restaurant shortly after it opened.

"It opened so quietly on West Sahara and there was very little built around it at the time," Stevens said. "My biggest fear was that locals would not appreciate it, but they did. They found it to be good, healthy food that was so appealing."

Among the more noted dishes at the Osaka were sukiyaki (pronounced skee-yaki) and chicken and salmon teriyaki.

"The consistency in cooking and the reasonable prices made it a very popular family restaurant," Stevens said.

Aiko Nakanishi, Sam's wife of 42 years who was from Osaka, said she was visiting friends in Overton when she was introduced to Sam, who at the time was working on a farm there. Sam and Aiko married in 1956 and settled in the rural community.

"Being from the big city (Osaka), I told Sam I was lonely living in the country," Aiko said through an interpreter. "So we moved to Las Vegas."

Sam Nakanishi was born July 12, 1924, in Las Vegas. At age 17, at the outbreak of World War II, he was rounded up with thousands of other American-born people of Japanese descent and sent to a West Coast relocation camp.

Later, he joined the Army and was sent to New York. From there, Sam was ordered to Europe to fight with Japanese-American forces who had distinguished themselves in battle. But the war ended before he was sent overseas, and Nakanishi returned to Southern Nevada.

When he opened his Las Vegas restaurant in 1968, Nakanishi brought in a chef from Japan to make the dishes as authentic as possible, his wife said. Later, Japanese chefs from Los Angeles were brought in to prepare the dishes.

He retired a few years ago, but his family still runs the business.

Nakanishi was a member of the Japanese-American Club of Las Vegas.

In addition to his wife, Nakanishi is survived by a daughter, Joy Faas-Nakanishi; a son, Gene Nakanishi; and two sisters, Mary Sue Taguchi and Alyce Louie, all of Las Vegas; two brothers, George Nakanishi also of Las Vegas and Jack Nakanishi of Clover City, Calif.; and three grandchildren.

Donations: In Nakanishi's memory to the Japanese-American Club of Las Vegas, 1316 S. 8th St., Las Vegas, NV 89104.