Downtown Boise's first Japanese restaurant will close its doors for the final time Friday night. Before saying goodbye to the downtown community, a former employee made sure to make it a special goodbye.
In 2007, head chef and owner Sige Matsuzawa hired Yuki Hagiwara, a Japanese Boise State freshman that needed to work to get through his undergrad.
Hagiwara worked for and was mentored by Matsuzawa for four years while he was at Boise State before he graduated in 2011.
After graduating, Hagiwara moved back to Japan. Once he heard his old mentor was closing his restaurant, he made sure to be there to make sushi with his friend one more time by flying from Japan to Boise for the restaurant's last day.
"I almost cried when I met him because I was nothing when I came here but the more I communicated with him, the more I can feel, this is how I am, how I should be, so that's why now I am competent to work in Japan," Hagiwara said. "Its a totally different industry and this experience is forever and helps a lot."
Shige's Japanese Cuisine has been serving Boiseans sushi since it opened in August of 1992.
KTVB's Shira Matsuzawa is the daughter of Shige Matsuzawa.