American Hiro

"Traveling the world with my father, watching him interact with people, famous and ordinary, observing up close his balls-out sense of adventure, and having a larger-than-life personality to live up to had a profound effect on me and the formation of my character."

-From the foreword by Steve Aoki, Grammy-nominated producer and Billboard award-winning DJ

Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki was a man who succeeded in everything he pursued. From world-class wrestling, ballooning, underwater exploration, and car and boat racing to founding Benihana, Rocky's passion for life infected all around him and accelerated the exchange of Japanese culture and cuisine with America.

Rocky's rags to riches story, from dishwasher and busboy to owner of a multi-million-dollar restaurant empire, is a wild American dream realized unlike any other. Running and expanding the business would be all-consuming for most people-not to mention battling the perception of otherness-but Rocky would not be deterred. His determination for the business rivaled the drive he demonstrated in his other interests, some of which almost killed him.

American Hiroin business, sports, and life.

Jack McCallum was a writer for Sports Illustrated for thirty years, and is currently Special Contributor. He is the host of the breakout podcast The Dream Team Tapes, based on his New York Times bestselling book Dream Team, and is also the author of Seven Seconds or Less and many other titles. While concentrating mostly on basketball—in 2005 he won the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame—he also edited the weekly Scorecard section of Sports Illustrated, covered five Olympic games, and has written about virtually every sport, including bowling, bicycle racing, squash, and wrestling. McCallum teaches journalism at Muhlenberg College and lives with his wife in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

"Traveling the world with my father, watching him interact with people, famous and ordinary, observing up close his balls-out sense of adventure, and having a larger-than-life personality to live up to had a profound effect on me and the formation of my character." --From the foreword by Steve Aoki, Grammy-nominated producer and Billboard award-winning DJ Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki was a man who succeeded in everything he pursued. From world-class wrestling, ballooning, underwater exploration, and car and boat racing to founding Benihana, Rocky's passion for life infected all around him and accelerated the exchange of Japanese culture and cuisine with America. Rocky's rags to riches story, from dishwasher and busboy to owner of a multi-million-dollar restaurant empire, is a wild American dream realized unlike any other. Running and expanding the business would be all-consuming for most people--not to mention battling the perception of otherness--but Rocky would not be deterred. His determination for the business rivaled the drive he demonstrated in his other interests, some of which almost killed him. American Hiro in business, sports, and life.

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