Yasushi Watanabe has been making sushi for over 25 years. He was born in Tokyo, Japan and came to the U.S. in 1981 to work at a Japanese restaurant in Washington D.C. After 5 years there, he moved to Florida and worked at another restaurant for 5 years. He always dreamed of opening his own restaurant, and in 1991, he came to Chattanooga and opened Sushi Nabe at its original location at Lee Highway and Shallowford Road. Nabe-san enjoyed many years of success there, but in 2004 he wanted to be part of the Chattanooga downtown revival, and moved to the current location in Coolidge Park.