Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003 | 8:12 a.m.
Most people would consider owning three restaurants in Southern Nevada by the time they're 43 a pretty significant achievement. But Gene Nakanishi had a whole other life before entering the restaurant world.
Nakanishi, a Las Vegas native, owns and operates two Osaka Japanese Bistros, one in Las Vegas and one in Henderson, and Little Korea Barbecue and Sushi in Las Vegas. He stays involved with each restaurant and keeps long hours. A typical day doesn't end until about 3 a.m.
He has helped make Osaka which his family started in 1967 - a major player in town, catering most of the sushi banquets for hotels such as the Riviera and Caesars Palace.
Nakanishi's talent for the industry is unquestionable, but at one time he was as far away from raw fish as you can get: Nakanishi was once a professional musician and taught music at the middle-school level for 16 years.
Life lessons
While Nakanishi grew up around the restaurant business, he didn't have much to do with it until he turned 8.
"When I was 8, I had a hard time focusing on school," he remembers. "My dad put me to work washing dishes for a month. After that, I decided I'd study hard. I never wanted to wash dishes again."
Nakanishi excelled in school after that episode. In addition, he began a love of music, starting with the piano. He picked up a trumpet at the age of 10 and was a professional trumpeter by the time he reached high school.
He divided his time between learning the family business everything from fry cook to line cook, preparing sushi, busing tables and more and making money as a musician, performing at school functions.
While he appreciated the skills he had acquired from the restaurant, he more appreciated the money he made from his music.
"I was getting $10 a day for work, but $50 to $100 a day as a musician. I went to my dad and said, 'What's wrong with this picture?'," Nakanishi said. "My dad replied, 'You're living at home for free, driving our car, you're not paying insurance and we provide all your meals. There's nothing wrong with this picture.'"
So Nakanishi kept his hand in both worlds until graduating from high school. He decided music was where he belonged and attended Berklee School of Music in Boston. He spent five years studying jazz composition and arranging and music education, but things began to sour by his junior year.
"All of a sudden I had no job, and I came to the realization I would have to do something else," he said.
Upon graduating from Berklee, Nakanishi tried international relations as his graduate work at Harvard, but he realized it wasn't for him. Trying to return to music as a career, he left Harvard before graduating and went to Los Angeles to try to raise money for a trip to Japan.
"I needed $10,000 to get over there because that was where I had the best chance to do something with my music," he said. "I quickly realized I wasn't going to make it in Los Angeles and returned home to help with the restaurant. I figured I could raise the money there."
From student to teacher
Food and music mixed again once he returned, but not in the way he imagined. He received a job offer from Hyde Park Middle School as a music instructor. He accepted, and spent the next nine years there, dividing his time between teaching during the day and working at the restaurant at night.
The Japan plans went south, and nine years went quickly. Nakanishi then went to work teaching at Chaparral High School for six years, again working nights at the restaurant.
In all his teaching, Nakanishi said his style was "to help the children develop an incredible work ethic, establish integrity and help them make the right decisions."
That "incredible work ethic" definitely applied to Nakanishi. In addition to keeping the restaurant a large part of his life, he also found time to run the Mexican soda concession for all of Las Vegas.
"I have a gift of selling," he admits.
He attributes his nonstop activity to his parents.
"Until I got much older, I thought everybody worked 18-hour days," he said.
His decision to abandon his teaching and move full time into the family business was facilitated by several factors: Nakanishi's father passed away in 1993, and his brother was killed in a boating accident in 1997.
The feeling of wanting to be closer to his family only got stronger once he became a father. He now has two daughters, Naomi, 5, and Natalie, 1.
"After my first child, I knew I couldn't spend time with anyone else's children," he said.
It didn't help that his teaching years were marked by "poor administrators that micro-managed" at his school.
So, in 1997, Nakanishi became a full-time restaurateur.
The golden rule
Not one to dwell on the negative, Nakanishi said working with such administrators helped him in his business dealings.
"I don't micro-manage people," he said. "Leave them alone, and they'll work twice as hard for you."
His work ethic appears to be a success: Nakanishi opened his second restaurant in 2002 and his third restaurant was opened just last month. All are doing "better every month," he said.
The original restaurant has a long and varied history. An unassuming white building with brown trim and blue tile awning, it was originally a restaurant and various specialty shops, which were eventually converted into restaurant space.
The restaurant as it exists now has three distinct eating areas: A sushi bar near the entrance, a hibachi grill where patrons can see their food prepared, a la Benihana; and tatami rooms, where customers sit on the floor.
While he freely admits to being a bit of a workaholic, he adds it has served him well in the restaurant business.
"For all the extra time I spent teaching but didn't get paid for it, at least one or two former students come in every day to my restaurants with their families and put down $100 to $200," Nakanishi said. "What goes around comes around. I don't regret 12- to 14-hour days at all."
He has more karma points coming his way: He helped his sister start her own Osaka restaurant in Summerlin in 1997. She operates it on her own.
Coda
Music still remains a big part of Nakanishi's life, but more on the fringes.
He has employed a jazz trio, Naked Fish, at his Henderson restaurant on Mondays for seven months, and sometimes even plays with them.
In addition, his oldest daughter, Naomi, has taken a liking to the piano.
It will be hard for Nakanishi to suppress the musical talent in his family: His grandfather was a professional violinist, and his mother played organ and piano.
But Nakanishi said he hopes his daughter doesn't pursue a musical career.
"Music is tough," he said. "I would prefer her to do it for her enjoyment."
Picking up stakes
As much success as Nakanishi has enjoyed in his hometown, he wants to see and experience other areas.
In addition to owning a house in Southern Oregon, Nakanishi would eventually like to move to Northern California, "maybe even open a restaurant there."
Either way, Nakanishi is in good financial shape, which he credits fully to his aunt.
"She told me to buy a piece of property every year for 10 years, and at the end of 10 years, sell off half and pay off the other half," Nakanishi said. "I've took her advice, and I've done very well."
If he does decide to live elsewhere, Nakanishi assures Las Vegas that Osaka will live on.
"I've got good people working for me," he said. "I'll either sell it to them or let them run it for me."
But he has no long-term plans, leaving his future up to his faith in God.
"Everybody has a time for everything," he said. "There was a time when I was supposed to be teaching. I'll know when my time is up in the restaurant business."
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