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Hiroaki Aoki (青木 広彰, Aoki Hiroaki ^?, October 9, 1938 – July 10, 2008), known in the United States by the Anglicized name Rocky Aoki, was a founder of the Benihana chain of "Japanese Steakhouse" restaurants, wrestler, thrillseeker, and entrepreneur.

History

Born in Tokyo, Aoki was a rebellious youth, admitting to selling girlie magazines in school, as well as being suspended for pushing another student down a staircase. He and some friends started a rock and roll band called Rowdy Sounds, though Aoki eventually abandoned music for athletics. He would later explain, "I play bass. But I tell you why I change to wrestling: No good on tempo."^[1] Aoki attended Keio University, where he competed in track and field, karate and wrestling before being expelled for fighting. He qualified for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, but did not compete. However, he later toured the United States and was undefeated in the wrestling 112-pound flyweight class. Aoki moved to New York City, going on to win the United States flyweight title in 1962, 1963 and 1964. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995.^[2]

In New York, Aoki worked seven days a week in an ice cream truck that he rented in Harlem while studying restaurant management at City College of New York (CCNY). After he received his degree in 1964, he used the $10,000 he had saved from the ice cream business to convince his father to co-invest in the first Benihana, a four-table teppanyaki restaurant on West 56th Street. "Benihana", taken from the Japanese name for safflower, was suggested by Aoki's father. According to family legend, Aoki's father was walking through the bombed-out ruins of post-war Tokyo when he happened across a single red safflower growing in the rubble.^[2]

He was an offshore powerboat racer along with the 1986 APBA world champion Powerboat throttleman Errol Lanier, a former Fort Lauderdale, Florida fireman who saved his life in a near fatal powerboat crash in 1979 under the Golden Gate Bridge.

He faced deportation from the United States over a conviction for tax evasion. Celebrity columnist Cindy Adams asked her readers to send letters on his behalf to the government, and ultimately he was granted relief by the immigration judge. Before his death, he had become a United States citizen. Aoki was the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence. He died of pneumonia in New York. He suffered from diabetes, Hepatitis C, and cirrhosis of the liver. His Hepatitis C was caused from a blood transfusion after the 1979 boat crash under the Golden Gate Bridge.

References

External links

• BENIHANA
• Obituary in the Herald Tribune