My question is one that I have been pondering for a couple of years. I have had some answers, but none very satifactory, so:
Why are most Japanese restaurants in the US owned by Koreans?
Are they?
Consider the answers to these queries:
**How many Japanese restaurants are there in the U.S.?
How many are owned by Koreans?**
Those are the questions you must answer first. Or is the OP something you’ve only noticed around where you live?
This is what I have noticed where I have lived in both Arizona and Washington state.
In Los Angeles, more specifically East Los Angeles (Alhambra, Montrey Park, Wesk Covina), most of the Japanese restaurants are Chinese owned, of at least that is what I have seen.
Kinda kewl if you want to eat Japanese food and Chinese food at the same time.
I’ve noticed the same thing with most Japanese restaurants here in the Bay Area. I think it’s a combination of a bunch of factors.
Restaurants are risky propositions. Most fail. The work is extremely hard and works out to pennies on the hour. Generally, immigrants are much more likely to start a restaurant.
Japanese immigration is negligible. No Japanese immigration = fewer Japanese-owned Japanese restaurants. Japanese Americans are mostly middle to upper-middle class and are more likely to go to college (a sure thing) than start a restaurant. JA’s are also pretty assimilated, which doesn’t help to keep the cuisine good. I’ve noticed that most sushi chefs seem to be recent Japanese immigrants, no matter who the owner.
I think JA’s own a certain number of restaurants (maybe the older, more established ones), but Japanese food has exploded in popularity and Koreans have stepped in to keep up with demand.
Korean people have a strong entrepreneur instinct, are mostly immigrants, and can often pass as Japanese to unsuspecting white folks. People generally want to buy ethnic cuisine from ethnic people.
Of course, one of the best burritos I ever had was from a Chinese-owned taqueria.
It also depends on where you live. The majority of Japanese restaurants in Hawaii are owned by Japanese. They own a lot of non-Japanese restaurants as well.
And thank you hapaXL for the image of exploding Japanese food. 
Oddly, the best sushi I’ve ever had was made by a Pakastani man and his wife. Sadly, that resestaurant didn’t last long (few do in NYC).
Yeah, it depends where you live. Here in Hawaii all the Japanese restaurants I’ve been to are owned and run by Japanese Americans.
AudreyK and LolaBaby,
Just curious: What do you think makes Hawaii different?
Why do Japanese own the majority of Japanese restaurants? I dunno. My guess is the simplest reason I can think of: it’s because Japanese do Japanese cuisine better than anybody else. Just as Chinese make the best Chinese cuisine.
Hawaii’s still full of first and second generation Asian families, and the majority of them aren’t fully assimilated into American (or even local Hawaiian) culture. If it’s true that unassimilated folks are more likely to keep the cookin’ good, then it follows that those ethnic families would have pretty tasty traditional food.
Furthermore, it’s unlikely that a Japanese or Korean would be able to out-cook a Chinese for Chinese food. I imagine the same would apply to the Japanese and Koreans for Japanese and Korean food, respectively. So it only makes sense that each ethnicity is most likely to have a restaurant serving their own type of food, and not another’s.
A good chunk of the workers brought to Hawaii to work at the plantations back in the early 1900s were Asian. Today, Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans make up well over half of the population of Hawaii. Because of this makeup, I think it’s pretty close to impossible for there to be a dearth of Chinese, Korean or Japanese restaurants. Since there’s no slack to be taken up, no one’s feeling compelled to compensate for anything. Thus, few Koreans run Japanese restaurants, few Chinese run Koreans restaurants, and few Japanese run Chinese restaurants.
Personally, I find it more interesting that Japanese seem to own a lot of the non-ethnic specific, “local” cuisine-type places. IIRC, Zippy’s, Rainbow’s Drive In, The Hungry Lion, Diner’s, King’s Bakery/Koa House/whatever, Masa’s (and the old Honda’s Delicatessen) and Shiro’s are or were all Japanese owned. Each restaurant has some vaguely Japanese items, but they also have or had Chinese, Korean, and American foods.
The only exception I can think of is L&L, which is Chinese owned.
However, Audrey, I would point out that in most places ethnic food in the US, as good as it may be, is often not totally authentic. The food is made to appeal to American tastes or expectations. Ask any Mexican this.
The same is true of Japanese food. A good Korean chef may cook Japanese food well enough and of good enough quality that an American wouldnt notice the difference.
The city I live in has a large and very diverse immigrant and foreign population, and as an adult ESL teacher I have daily contact with them.
My observation is also that, here at least, most of the Japanese restaurants are owned by Koreans. Here are some ideas why:
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Most Japanese here arent immigrants. They live here with their families for 3 to 5 years as extended-stay businessmen and have no interest in opening their own business here.
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Most Koreans, however, ARE here to stay. At least in my city.
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Korean food hasnt developed the popularity that Japanese food has. Most Americans have no idea what Korean food is.
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Korean food is generally pretty expensive. The cost was the reason that the one Korean restaurant in my city didnt make it.
However a couple of the Korean-owned Japanese restaurants here have a few Korean items on the menu.
Hm. Well, here in OR every Japanese restaurant I’ve been to has (as far as I could tell) been owned by Japanese and the Korean restaurants are owned by Koreans, The Korean joints usually have some Japanese dishes, probably just to offer something familiar to people who don’t know Korean food, and some go as far as to call themselves “Korean/Japanese.” But I’ve never encountered a strictly/mostly Japanese restaurant run by Koreans.
Oh, definitely; I’m not disputing that at all. Let me point out, though, that I was responding to the question specifically about Hawaii, where there are a lot of first and second generation Asians in Hawaii. Because of this, I’m wagering that the cooking in your average Hawaii Asian cuisine restaurant is more authentic than that of your average US Asian cuisine restaurant. They have to be if they want the largely unwesternized (foodwise) population to dine there.
If the Hawaiian palate became more Westernized, then it follows that recipes would be altered to appease Westernized palates. But IMO, Hawaii is unassimilated enough that tweaking of that kind doesn’t happen much.
In my post, I was simply saying that in Hawaii, you are more likely to find tasty, authentic Korean, Chinese, and Japanese food where the food is prepared by Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese, respectively. Not that you must to be that ethnicity to cook that cuisine well.
In general, I’d say the current low Japanese immigration rates and higher Chinese/Korean immigration rates, the increased popularity of Japanese food, and the general ignorance of authenticity explains this, however:
This may be explained by the large Japanese influance in Korea due to the Japanese occupation, as well as long historical ties. Personally, when I visited Korea, I found many dishes to be quite similar to what I’m used to here.
I agree, Osakadave.
I teach Koreans and Japanese. We always have a big end-of-semester pot-luck, and both the Koreans and Japanese insist that thier sushi is dramatically different from each other. Ill be damned if I can tell the difference except that the Koreans sometimes put sesame seeds on theirs.
Most older Koreans I have met, however, hate the Japanese (its been described to me as a “silent hate” though), and who can blame them after WWII. To this day Japanese are notorious for racism against Koreans (ethnic background checks on childrens fiances, etc). Many Koreans I have met refuse outright that there is any linguistic relationship between Korean and Japanese (but there is I assure you).
I understand why so many Koreans open Japanese restaurants, but it still seems odd to me.
Well I came back too late to answer this but Audrey has answered it just fine.
Audrey, no forget Ige’s!!! 
And regnad kcin, I know exactly what you are talking about with the older-generation Koreans.
As there is a sizeable Korean population within Japan, I wouldn’t be surprised if some Japanese restaurants in the US were run by ethnic Koreans who grew up and were maybe even born in Japan.
Correct, Lamia, ethnic Koreans make up the largest minority group in Japan. Luckily, the largest concentration is here in Osaka, so you can get “real” Korean, not the yakiniku that most Japanese seem to think is the be all and end all of Korean cooking :). I’m curious if the Koreans in Japan immigrate in large numbers. I wouldn’t be surprised due to the discrimination.
The Korean hatred of Japanese was brought home to me while riding the subway in Seoul. A very drunk older man walked up to me and started swearing at me in English for being a #"!%#&% foreigner. He ended his tirade by saying “It’s good you aren’t Japanese, or I’d kill you!”
Do I get my card-carrying Hawaii native status stripped from me if I admit I’ve never been to Ige’s?
Can I atone for my sin by mentioning I have Spam marinating for musubis? 