Ryoichi “Richard” Matsushima was friends with a lot of college students when he attended high school in Japan. Lots of these other students were talking about the growing importance of international business and this inspired him to look toward a career in international business. This sparked the idea within him to leave Japan, his home, and pursue his dreams to make use of his knowledge of Spanish and do business in South America. After traveling through Russia and much of Europe, Ryoichi was staying at a youth hostel in London and met a Japanese college student who was studying in New York. The college student recommended Ryoichi to head to New York if he was looking for work. With this new information, Ryoichi was able to take the flight to New York and start his life in America.After some time in America, Ryoichi received a phone call from his brother explaining that his mom had been hit by a car and passed away. On the journey back to Japan from Buffalo for her funeral and to be with his family, he had met a man from Binghamton and had a conversation about the growing city. After returning from Japan, Ryoichi remembered the conversation he had with the man from Binghamton and decided to head there himself. Upon arriving at Binghamton the landscape reminded him of Japan and he fell in love with the area. This is where Ryoichi decided to open his Japanese restaurant, Kampai, and has been open and successful for the past 50 years. 

– Joshua Feinberg

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant