He came to this country to compete as a wrestler. He remained here to become an American and international business tycoon. Rocky Aoki already had won national wrestling championships in Japan. Competing for the New York Athletic Club, he added three U. S. titles to his collection. Then, in 1964, he blended a touch of Japanese culture with the diversified interests of the American entertainment scene and used a $10,000 loan to open a small restaurant in the heart of New York City.

A 28-seat steakhouse with a limited menu and fresh food, his Benihana Restaurant offered a preparation technique which caught on quickly. Chefs prepared all entrées on a table called a "hibachi," around which as many as eight guests could be seated. Within three months, Benihana became the most talked-about restaurant in New York.

Aoki soon opened another three blocks away and from 1968 to '72 added half a dozen more. Aoki and his senior executives created the Benihana National Corporation and introduced a line of frozen foods. Today, 50 award-winning Benihana restaurants serve more than 3.5 million customers annually, in 19 states and eight countries.

Aoki's passion for sports brought him renown as a participant in cross-country auto rallies, hot air ballooning and off-shore power boat racing, and as a sponsor of major sporting events. But he has plunged with equal fervor into sponsorship of the arts and humanities.

He was the first organizer of the Japanese-American Sister Cities Program, bringing together various U. S. and Japanese communities of similar size. On the 25th anniversary of his restaurant chain, Aoki raised $25,000 for Juvenile Diabetes, and he also supports the Leukemia Society and the National Foundation for Cancer Research. He is the author of 11 books, best-sellers in Japan, and his life was the subject of a 1991 television movie in his native land.