Chef Shiramine ("Mine") Masanori had a dream to start his own restaurant in the United States. Obtaining his Chef License in 1985 at Chef School Miyajima Gakuen in Japan, he worked at the Sunflower Hotel for a year before he was given the opportunity to work at a Japanese Restaurant in the United States. Since then Mine has worked for several Japanese Restaurants, including his reknowned 'Mai Japanese Restaurant'.
1986 Sun Flower Hotel.
1987 Tokyo Restaurant.
1997 Mai Japanese Restaurant.
2006 Nakato Japanese Restaurant.
2008 Mai Japanese Restaurant.
Chef Yoshida ("Yoshi"), Master Sushi Chef, obtained his Chef License in 1988 and Fugu ("pufferfish") License in 1989. He arrived in the United States in 1992, starting out in California Japanese Restaurants before settling in North Carolina.
1992 Kitayama, Newport Beach.
1996 Tokyo Japanese Restaurant
1997 Kyoto Japanese Restaurant, Uzushio Restaurant, Japan.
2000 Kurama Restaurant.
2002 Nakato Japanese Restaurant.
2005 Ichi Sushi
2008 Mai Japanese Restaurant.
