The Lucky Sailor Sushi-Hut
Written by: R͚̙͔̩̓̂͐̅̽i̸̩͓͖̘͔̊͊͝p̴̟ͮ̂̇ͣ͛̾̈̎͝s͚̣͈͇͖͕͓̬ͧ͊͛̄ͫ̎̓͡͡h̖͕̣ͥ̐͐̉̋͊̚ȯ̹͎̼̘̯̺ͥ̓̽ͤ̏ͧ͘͡t̡͙̖̘̠̭͉͕ͮ̎̌ͧ̐̚ Coupe
Coupe has been chosen to write this article in lieu of its intended author. This is a data-cache, not a restaurant-review.To your common joe-schmoe, The Lucky Sailor is just a mid-end seafood restaurant and karaoke bar in west Raleigh. It's not too often a sushi-bar can open in a landlocked city and rightfully claim to have fresh fish that's still affordable, but the establishment manages it by raising their fish on-site in an impressively large underground aquarium, parts of which tunnel up into the main building into aquariums build into the wall and floors, so the clientelle can and hand-pick what fish they want killed and gutted for dinner. Its proprietors, Jonas Sable and Aoyama Fudo are well known in the Raleigh area as mild-mannered philanthropists who have their names tied to countless fundings of public-work projects and charities, and for taking a very active role in the management and running of The lucky Sailor. But in the shadows? The Lucky Sailor is a different place entirely: Ever since Aoyama took the place over, it's served as the main base of operations for the Aoyama-Gumi Yakuza clan. Delivery trucks and to-go boxes smuggle products, karaoke-booths hold illicit meetings, and in the parts of the aquarium the public can't see, it's been rumored that 'liabilities' are fed as chum to the carnivorous fish on the restaurant's menu. In spite of being the centre-hub for the Aoyama-Gumi, the old man Fuda himself takes pride in the place being something of a neutral-ground for Raleigh's criminal players to meet up and negotiate. The Aoyama likes it that way because they can overhear conversations and get info on potential rivals, and the other gangs like it because the Yakuza are generally non-discriminatory in their contempt for gaijin, as well as the retaurant being a legitimately good eatery.
Purpose / Function
On the surface, the restaurant claims to simply be a fine eatery and karaoke-establishment that wants to give Raleigh's Japanese working-class a little taste of home and support them in whatever ways they can. In the shadows, the Lucky Sailor serves as the Aoyama-Gumi's central nexus, hosting the bulk of their illicit production and distribution-networks, as well as providing a suitable place to hold meetings and negotiations.
Alterations
Since Aoyama became owner of the business, the restaurant has done away with its clean pearly-white architecture and has recently renovated towards a more traditional Japanese design, paper lanterns and all.
Architecture
Currently, the restaurant is aproximately three stories tall above-ground and underneath holds three seperate basement levels for its various needs. The main floors are built with contemporary SK construction-methods and given a foux-traditional facade of wood and stone on top, while staff areas maintain a more utilitarian look.
History
Originally, the eatery belonged to a Mr and Mrs Junichi and Emio Hirayama, first and second-generation migrants respectively who both had families working in the warehouses of Kurabokko Metahuman Technologies. So the story goes, the two of them pooled their collective knowledge in business and culinary arts, along with a few family-connections, and in 2055 were able to open up a small eatery not too far from the parts of the city their friends and family most frequently worked inside, cobbling together a menu from various hand-me-down family recipes and calling it The Lucky Sailor to try and hide the fact that all its dishes at the time were made from soylent and krill.
And wouldn't you know it, the charming family-owned business that was low-key backed by wealthy family-members not only survived but thrived in business, as word spread far enough that people who didn't even work at the warehouses were following the Korabokko jumpsuits into the restaurant to get a taste. Within a couple of years, The Lucky Sailor was making enough money to export real fish in small numbers and even had enough leftover to hire some extra help.
Jonas Sable was one of those hire-ons. Originally going by the name Yoshida Nashio, he was a former legbreaker for the Yakuza, the Yamaguchi syndicate in particular. The details are a tightly-kept secret, but what we do know is that somewhere along the line Yoshiida screwed up badly, to the point where a single pinkie wasn't gonna cut it, and he had to flee the country all the way to the CAS to get the head off him, pulling what little reliable contacts he had left to get a new identity as Jonas Sable and hoping he could lay low working in warehouses, where he became fast friends with Emio and was soon taken on into the restaurant.
This is just friend-of-a-friend information gleaned from a run in Japan, but allegedly Yoshida's screw-up was a communications screw-up that turned an inter-clan negotiation into a bloodbath. Search up 'Three-Suns Ambush' next time you hit a Japanese data-cache, for more information.As it turned out, Sable was a pretty capable addition to the team and remained a constant in the restaurant as it slowly expanded and took on more employees, to the point where at no point in his career did he ever really take orders from anyone but the Hirayamas themselves. Eventually in 2062, when Junichi was diagnosed with lung-cancer, Emio Hirayama asked Jonas if he would do them the honors of looking after ther restaurant while they retire and leave for Kyoto to live with Junichi's extended family. Now my sources inform me that Jonas knew he had plenty of good reasons to turn it down, chief of all being that he was still technically laying low from an international crime-syndicate, but when your friend's husband has cancer and they're bequeathing you a whole restaurant? I can't exactly blame him for accepting it either. And so, Jonas Sable became the sole owner of The Lucky Sailor, under the stipulation that he'd send a cut of the profits back to the Hirayamas so they could spend their retirement in comfort. Initially he did what he could to stay out of the spotlight, but when sales naturally dipped a little from the change in management Jonas took to acts of philanthropy on the restaurant's behalf, donating to various charities and participating in fundraisers to show he was a worthy heir to the restaurant's legacy. The restaurant itself was showing record profits, enough that previously-scrapped plans to turn parts of the vast basement-space into an underground fish-farm and let them source their own meat. Come '64 and the Crash 2.0 happened, wreaking havoc with electronic databases worldwide. Jonas nearly lost the restaurant completely when it erased almost every scrap of evidence proving the change in ownership, but Emio Hirayama herself allegedly flew herself on an express ticket to Raleigh to have the matter sorted, and Jonas exhaled in relief, feeling thankful that the worst possible consequence of Crash 2.0 had spared him. Only, it sort of didn't... A couple of months after the incident, Sable was walking his rounds behind the main counter, doing his usual routine of checking up on the employees and customers alike when an old friend happened to find his way in, an accountant by the name of Aoyama Fudo. Fuda didn't recognise Jonas, but Jonas certainly recognised one of his old boss' employees, and the life visibly dropped from his face.
I've got trid-footage of the moment if anybody's interested. You can pinpoint the exact moment in time where Sable's new life fell apart...Panicking, Sable greeted Fuda by his name and offered him a complimentary meal and karaoke boooth. Bemused but curious, Aoyama accepted the gracious offer from the visibly sweating proprietor, and was understandably confused when, right before he had a chance to croon nostalgically to a 2040s power-ballad, the sweaty proprietor walked into his karaoke booth and teafully begged for his life. And it all fell together. Aoyama learned that Jonas Sable was in fact Yoshida Nashio, and that he had unintentionally gave this away thinking Aoyama recognised him as soon as he walked through the door to finally take retribution on him for his mistake all those years ago, and was now grovelling at his feet for forgiveness. The situation must have been surreal as heck for Aoyama, but an opportunity is an opportunity. The venerable Yamaguchi pencil-pusher made a gesture of sympathy, and offered Sable a deal: He would advocate for Sable's forgiveness, and possibly even reinitiation into the clan, in return for a few favors on Sable's behalf. Jonas knew from experience that 'a few favors' really meant lifelong servitute, but self-preservation ultimately took over, and he accepted. Jonas is still officially the sole owner of the restaurant as far as paperwork is concerned, but Fuda now for all intents and purposes runs the show from his cushy non-job of 'Financial Director'. Mercifully, Fuda allowed for Jonas Sable to do whatever was needed to keep the business running, preferring a front-business that actually functions as a business, but this does little to soften Jonas' pain of watching his beloved friend's eatery become a base of operations for the Aoyama-Gumi, and the very people he had tried so hard to run away from.
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