Dai Hayashi was born in 1954. He dropped out of college in Tokyo in 1977 and started backpacking around the world. He traveled through Russia, all over Europe and spent time working in Kibbuts. In 1979 he ended up in Los Angeles and became a sushi apprentice at Hana Sushi near UCLA. In 1983 he opened his own restaurant SushiSei at Hermosa Beach. After selling SushiSei in 1990, Dai worked at Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills, where he was highly influenced by Nobu Matsuhisa. Dai moved to Scottsdale in 1993 in search of a better place to raise his children. He loves the weather, the people and playing golf year round. In 1995, Dai opened SushiKo which has been serving the valley for 14 years.