Local Sushi Chef Matsuki Raising Money for Tsunami Relief

As  young man in Japan, Yasuo Matsuki loved baseball, playing into his early 20s until he was sidelined by an elbow injury. Now a sucessful restaurant owner and sushi chef in Fountain Valley, Matsuki is going to bat for his countrymen.

Matsuki is the owner of in Fountain Valley, and, in an effort to help those affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in his native Japan, he's created a special dessert menu that will be served at the restaurant through May 6, the proceeds of which will all go to UNICEF.

"When I first saw the scene on TV, I thought it was a scene from a film, but it was actually reality," Matsuki said. "I felt nothing but sadness. I saw on TV that not only people from Japan, but also people all over the world were giving help, and I felt really happy about it. That made me even more motivated to help Japan right here. I wanted to help Japan even just a little bit, as much as possible."

Sushi Koto's special menu will feature traditional Japanese desserts like green tea ice cream, yuzu fruit ice cream and mochi ice cream. Every Friday, the restaurant will also feature live entertainment from SouLandscape and accept cash donations on top of the proceeds from the desserts.

"We are from Japan, and watching the news and living here, it's hard to do anything," said Koichi Kimura, SouLandscape's keyboardist. "So we really thought about what we could do with our music, so I asked [Matsuki] to give us an opportunity to play music. There are many Japanese customers coming, so we can ask for donations here."