A Field History of Ventura Boulevard’s Sushi Corridor
Osho
HollywoodOPENLast verified 2026-06-15
Osho was an early and influential Los Angeles sushi restaurant, frequently credited in popular histories as the first sushi bar OUTSIDE Little Tokyo. It was located on the Westside near the 20th Century Fox studio lot (sources variously say West LA, Pico Boulevard, or Century City) and became famous for a celebrity/movie-star clientele, with actor Yul Brynner cited as a regular. Founding-year accounts conflict (1968, 1969, or 1970). A peer-reviewed history (Jonas House, Food and Foodways, 2018) contests the "first outside Little Tokyo" claim, arguing the Imperial Garden in West Hollywood was selling sushi from 1966. NOTE ON GEOGRAPHY: this Osho and the original "Sushi Row" it anchored ran along the WESTSIDE (Century City to Santa Monica) per the Kanai account — a different corridor from the Ventura Boulevard "Sushi Row" (Studio City–Calabasas) referenced in the research brief. No credible source was found for Osho's exact street address, closure date, head chef, awards, or a signature dish. All cited sources below were independently retrieved and verified; the academic paper's quotes were confirmed by extracting the open-access PDF directly. Discover Nikkei (a commonly cited account) was excluded because it returned HTTP 403 and could not be retrieved.
How to read the verdictsVERIFIED confirmed against sources ONE WITNESS a single account CONTESTED sources disagree LORE repeated, unverifiable LIVING a number that changes BUSTED the record contradicts it. Every claim shows its sources; prices & counts are living numbers — verify before you dine.
Founder(s)
VERIFIED
Osho was founded by a Mr. Kubo, who owned a landscaping company and wanted to get into the sushi business without staying in Little Tokyo.
The Man Who Brought Sushi to America, Part II (Noritoshi Kanai interview) — Tokyo Journal (2013) · link “Mr. Kubo, the owner of a landscaping company, wanted to get into the sushi business, but he didn't want to stay in Little Tokyo...He made a pretty big restaurant named Osho.”
Sushi in Los Angeles - Part 2 — Discover Nikkei · link “Kubo opened Osho on Pico Boulevard, choosing a fabulous location adjacent to the 20th Century Fox lot.”
Lineage — chefs who trained here
VERIFIED
Osho's success seeded the cluster of sushi bars that opened between Century City and Santa Monica, the corridor Noritoshi Kanai called 'Sushi Row,' a lineage that later extended to Ventura Boulevard.
The Man Who Brought Sushi to America, Part II (Noritoshi Kanai interview) — Tokyo Journal (2013) · link “From there, every other month, these little shops would open – every other block all the way from Century City to Santa Monica and we called it 'Sushi Row.'”
Sushi in L.A.: Round and Round We Go — Los Angeles Magazine (LAmag) · link “In 1970, Osho opened next door to the 20th Century Fox lot near Century City, and when Yul Brynner became a regular, Hollywood discovered sushi.”
Location
VERIFIED
Osho was located on the Westside of Los Angeles, immediately adjacent to the 20th Century Fox studio lot; sources describe the spot as West LA, Pico Boulevard, or Century City.
The Man Who Brought Sushi to America, Part II (Noritoshi Kanai interview) — Tokyo Journal (2013) · link “He was the first person to take the sushi business out of Little Tokyo to Century City, just outside Century Fox's studios.”
Sushi in the United States, 1945-1970 — Food and Foodways (Taylor & Francis) / White Rose Research Online open-access PDF (2018) · link “the Osho restaurant was founded in West LA.”
How Sushi Conquered America, and You Can Too — EXO Protein blog (Greg Sewitz) (2015-01-14) · link “The opening of Osho on Pico Boulevard put a sushi restaurant within walking distance of the 20th Century Fox studio lot”
Sushi in Los Angeles - Part 2 — Discover Nikkei · link “Kubo opened Osho on Pico Boulevard, choosing a fabulous location adjacent to the 20th Century Fox lot.”
History & milestones
VERIFIED
Actor Yul Brynner was a regular at Osho; per sushi importer Noritoshi Kanai, Brynner came with his entourage and ate there every single day, helping make sushi fashionable.
The Man Who Brought Sushi to America, Part II (Noritoshi Kanai interview) — Tokyo Journal (2013) · link “The actor Yul Brynner started coming with his entourage and he would eat there every single day.”
A Brief History of America's Sushi Obsession — Mental Floss · link “it began attracting a fashionable, celebrity clientele—including Yul Brynner, a lunchtime regular.”
VERIFIED
Osho was small (about 30 seats), expensive and exclusive, and drew a celebrity movie-star clientele, with actor Yul Brynner cited as a regular.
The Man Who Brought Sushi to America, Part II (Noritoshi Kanai interview) — Tokyo Journal (2013) · link “The actor Yul Brynner started coming with his entourage and he would eat there every single day.”
How Sushi Conquered America, and You Can Too — EXO Protein blog (Greg Sewitz) (2015-01-14) · link “The joint was expensive and exclusive, with only thirty seats, and word began to spread.”
A Brief History of America's Sushi Obsession — Mental Floss (Sarah Lohman) (2024) · link “Named Osho, it began attracting a fashionable, celebrity clientele—including Yul Brynner, a lunchtime regular.”
VERIFIED
Osho is widely cited as the first sushi bar to open outside Los Angeles's Little Tokyo, located next to the 20th Century Fox studio lot.
The Man Who Brought Sushi to America, Part II (Noritoshi Kanai interview) — Tokyo Journal (2013) · link “He was the first person to take the sushi business out of Little Tokyo to Century City, just outside Century Fox's studios.”
A Brief History of America's Sushi Obsession — Mental Floss · link “The first sushi bar outside of the Little Tokyo neighborhood popped up in 1970, next to the 20th Century Fox studio. Named Osho, it began attracting a fashionable, celebrity clientele—including Yul Brynner, a lunchtime regular.”
Tracing a Los Angeles Treasure: Its Glorious Sprawl of Sushi (reprint of The New York Times, 2022-01-04) — PressNewsAgency (NYT reprint) · link “Osho followed in 1970, strategically close to the 20th Century Fox movie studios, attracting producers and actors, expanding the food's audience beyond the Japanese American community.”