5 generations of Otanis serving Oxnard for 110 years

1876 - America celebrated its centennial

1878 - Toraichi Otani was born in Hiroshima, Japan

1881 - Shina Imai was born in Hiroshima, Japan

1898 - Toraichi immigrated to the United States

1902 - Toraichi moved to Oxnard, CA

1903 - Wright Brothers first flight

1903 - Oxnard incorporated and named after 3 brothers

1905 - Shina came to California

1905 - Toraichi and Shina were married. [They had 6 kids, son Hifumi (died at 2 mo.), son Izuto “Izzy,” son Tadao “Bow,” son Toru “Toby,” daughter Yoshiye “Yo,” and daughter Natsuke “Nachan”]

1906 - San Francisco earthquake

1907 - Oxnard built its first public library

1908 - The first Otani business was started at 620 S. Oxnard Boulevard, called "T. Otani Grocery." The first floor of the building was the grocery store and the second floor was where Toraichi and his family lived. The business evolved many times over the years and Toraichi even converted a corner of it into a barber shop and Toraichi was the barber

1908 - Oxnard Chamber of Commerce is founded

1910 - Oxnard's Plaza Park Pagoda was completed

1910 - After many miscarriages, the first son, Hifumi was born. He passed away in April, at only 2 months old, and was buried in Oxnard (at the Japanese/American cemetery off Pleasant Valley Road)

1910 - Toraichi Otani opened a pool hall with 4 tables at 520 Saviers Road

1912 - Izzy was born in Oxnard, California - 2nd Generation (Toraichi and Shina)

1912 - Helen Nishikawa was born in Venice, California (Roichi and Toku)

1912 - RMS Titanic sank

1912 - Toraichi Otani was one of the 8 pool hall owners that started and signed a petition in to lower the age of men allowed to frequent the Oxnard pool rooms from 21 to 18

1914 - World War I begins in Europe

1917 - U.S enters World War I

1918 - World War I ends

1919 - Izzy became a boy scout [and was a lifelong boy scout who was very involved with the program. Both his sons were scouts and he mentored many of the community’s youth]

1920 - Izzy held a fishing pole in hand for the first time and discovered his passion for fishing. He loved the quiet calm of fishing and loved to catch fish, but didn't like to eat fish because he didn't like to pick through the bones (and once choked on a bone that got stuck in his throat), so he would give his catch away to family and friends [This is why the motto of the 608 A Street Market and Restaurant is “Boneless Fillets are our Specialty”]

1929 - Izzy graduated from Oxnard High School – Football 3, 4 (Capt. 4), Track 1, 2, Basketball 1, 2, 3, 4, Baseball 3, 4, Kraft Club officer 4 (V. Pres.), Kraft Club play 4, “Altruism” 4, Class officer 1

1929 - Stock market crashes, Depression Begins

1930 - Izzy was accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles and planed on becoming an attorney. Izzy lived in Santa Monica while attending classes and worked at a local fruit stand

1930 - The Oxnard Blvd. building doubled as boarding house. Toraichi moved his family into one room and rented out all the other upstairs rooms to families who lost everything in the stock market crash (the businesses downstairs continued as usual)

1931 - Worst of the Depression, almost 25% unemployed

1934 - Izzy graduated from UCLA with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and returned home to Oxnard

1934 - Oxnard airport opens

1935 – The 3 Otani sons (Izzy, Bow and Toby) wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps and start a business of their own. They started “Otani Bros. Produce” inside the Thompson City Market (owned by siblings, Bill and Helen Thompson) on the corner of “A” and 5th Street. Izzy ran the fruit market full time and the other two brother balanced their time between the 2 businesses.

1939 - (September) World War II starts in Europe (with German Invasion of Poland)

1936 - Izzy and Helen were married [while attending UCLA, Izzy lived with a family in Santa Monica. One of his duties was to take the family’s children to Sunday school at the local Methodist Church. Helen was the Sunday school teacher there]

1938 - Izzy and Helen built their family home at 610 S. A Street, Oxnard

1938 - Dean was born in Oxnard (Izzy and Helen)

1940 - Steve was born in Oxnard - 3rd Generation (Izzy and Helen)

1941 - (December) Japanese attack Pearl Harbor – U.S. declares war on Japan

1942 - (January) Otani brothers, Bow and Toby, joined the U.S Army

1942 - (February) Executive order 9066 was signed giving the military broad powers to ban any citizen from a fifty- to sixty-mile-wide coastal area stretching from Washington state to California and extending inland into southern Arizona. The order also authorized transporting these citizens to assembly centers hastily set up and governed by the military in California, Arizona, Washington state, and Oregon. 

1942 - All Japanese in this area were evacuated and sent to live at the Gila Arizona Internment Camp. The evacuees were only allowed to take what they can carry, so Izzy and Helen allowed family and friends to store photos and other mementos in one of the bedrooms of the 610 house. Otani's Bros. Produce was leased out, the 620 business/home was rented to a Mexican/American family friend, and Izzy and Helen's family home was rented to the family of George Doctolero (Filipino).

1942 - The Gila Arizona camp officially opened on July 20, 1942. The camp was located on the Gila River Indian Reservation about 50 miles southeast of Phoenix, near the town of Rivers. The 16,500-acre site actually consisted of two separate camps, with the larger of the two, Butte Camp, located 3-1/2 miles west of Canal Camp. The average summer temperature was 104 degrees and has been known to reach 125 degrees.

1944 - Izzy was allowed to leave camp through a work program, but was not allowed to return home to Oxnard. Izzy and his family were sent to live in Popular Grove, Illinois where Izzy worked as a dairy hand at the farm of Jim Morehead.

1945 - Shina Otani passed away at the Gila Arizona Camp. Izzy came back to camp for the funeral

1945 - (August) Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

1945 - (September) World War II ends

1945 - All internees were allowed to return home, but most people did not have anything left to return home to.  Canal Camp closed on September 28, 1945, and Butte Camp closed on November 10, 1945. 

1946 - All the Otani's return to Oxnard. The Otani Bros. Produce business had gone broke, but the property and building of the 620 Blvd. business/home was still there. The Mexican/American family moved out and Toraichi moved back in but did not open up for business (He was 68 years old, tired and missing his wife. Toraichi lived in Hiroshima till he was 21 still had friends and family there before the bombing, and his children were loyal and loved America (2 of them joined the military to fight Japan). Being interned and everything about the war with Japan took everything out of him). The Doctoleros moved out of the 610 A Street home and Izzy and his family moved back in. All the Otani men went to work for Allis Chalmers, where they made and sold farm equipment.

1948 - The Otani men pulled all their saved money together, quit their jobs and started to rebuild the business on the Blvd. The El Teatro Theater was already next door so the business they created in place of the old grocery store was a Malt Shop and the 3 Otani brothers all worked there. Izzy cooked, Bow worked the counter and Toby was in charge of the soda fountain. Some of the most memorable menu items were the avocado cheeseburgers, fried fish, fried bologna sandwiches and the homemade ice cream (we still have customers come in and tell us stories about sitting on the counter after their movie and listening to the jukebox till the sun went down).

1949 - Toraichi owned land around 1450 S. Oxnard Blvd. He divided up the land between his 3 sons and Izzy sold his land to Sal Lopez (Sal's Mexican Inn). With the money from the sale, Izzy purchased the land in front of his house, 608 S. A Street, and built our present building (it was the residence of Constance Moreno before he tore it down). He rented the building to Rice and Sons Auto Electric and continued to work with his family at the malt shop.

1952 - Izzy loved to go fishing. He would walk down 5th Street and spend his early mornings on the beach with a fishing pole in his hand. He would give away what he knew his family couldn't eat, and quickly realized he could make a profit if he sold his catch. He quit the family malt shop and turned his passion for fishing into a business of his own. "Izzy Otani's Fish Market" was created and started here at our current location, 608 S. A Street. Izzy took over a quarter of the building [the tallest of the 4 front windows was our front door and the fan that is the original fan that was over the door], extended the building in the back, and rented the new space to the existing auto repair shop. The market’s motto was [and still is] “Boneless Fillets are our Specialty!”

1952 - Oxnard's Air Force Base is established

1953 - Korean War ends

1953 - The Otani Bros. Malt Shop on the boulevard closed

1954 - Izzy expands the business and takes over the whole building, creating Otani's Fish Bait and Tackle. When you walked in the front door, the fish market was still on the left side (where it originally was), the Japanese groceries filled the shelves in the middle and the frozen items, bait and fishing supplies were on the right. Some of the most memorable items were the custom-made fishing poles, hand-tied lures, smoked fish and Izzy's famous "sugar-cured mackerel" bait.

1956 - Toraichi passed away here in Oxnard

1957 - Steve married Sherry Gonzales

1958 - Steve graduated from Oxnard High School

1958 - Karen was born in Oxnard - 4th Generation (Steve and Sherry)

1960 - Lunch counter sit-ins begin in the South (beginning of “Civil Rights Movement”)

1961 - Genji is born in Oxnard (Steve and Sherry)

1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis

1963 - President Kennedy is assassinated

1964 - Oxnard Blvd. is designated at State Route 1

1966 - Izzy used his Political Science degree from UCLA and became a member of the Ventura County Grand Jury

1967 - Izzy and Helen moved everything out of the family home (that was in the back of the fish market) and tore it down to expand the business again. In place of the house, they built another large walk in freezer and cooler.

1969 - 400,000 people attend “Woodstock”

1969 - First moon landing

1969 - Oxnard started construction of the present City Hall

1972 - Izzy would give cooking classes using the fresh fish and ingredients found in the market. Following in his father's footsteps of "always updating your business to fit your customer's needs," he closed a portion of the market and built a kitchen in its place. The restaurant served its first official plate on May 3rd and pulled its seafood items from the fish case. All menu items were Izzy's own recipes, and he kept things casual with counter service, hand written menus, paper plates, and only 8 tables.

1973 - Vietnam War ends - Nixon resigns

1973 - Izzy was President of the Oxnard Rotary Club

1974 - Steve took over the business from his father, Izzy

1976 - Karen graduated from Oxnard High School

1976 - America celebrated its bicentennial

1978 - Izzy Otani's Fish Market Incorporated

1979 - Genji graduated from Oxnard High School

1981 - Karen married Jerry Baldonado

1986 - Tani is born - 5th Generation (Karen and Jerry)

1986 - Helen passed away here in Oxnard

1994 - Steve's children, Karen and Genji, took over the business

1999 - Izzy passed away at home in Oxnard

2006 - Tani promoted to General Manager

2008 - Otani's Seafood joins social media and creates Facebook page "Otani's" www.fb.com/OtanisInOxnard

2009 - Dean passed away here in Oxnard

2012 - Otani’s Seafood has its very first website www.Otanis-Seafood.com

2013 - Otani's Seafood wins "Downtown Business of the Year" from the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce

2014 - One of the old fish cases is removed and the dining room is expanded

2015 - Otani's Seafood created an "Otani's Seafood" phone app, started accepting online orders, and offering curbside service

2016 - Menu boards are created that resemble the old hand written ones that great-grandpa Izzy used to make

2018 - The Otani Family celebrated “5 generations of Otani’s proudly serving Oxnard for 110 years.” We celebrated with a float in the Oxnard Christmas parade and invited all past and present Otani’s employees to walk with us.

2020 - COVID-19 took the world by storm and forced the closure of indoor dining and other businesses. Otani’s followed all procedures to ensure the safety of our staff and customers, modified our hours, but kept our doors open the whole year. Times were tough, everyone was stressed, we didn’t know if we would have a business the following month, but we kept our entire staff and did not lay a single team member off. Too many restaurants were forced to permanently close, and we are extremely thankful to have made it through the year. Special THANK YOU to our community for all the support, and an even bigger THANK YOU to our hardworking staff that showed up each shift! We appreciate you all!

2023 - Jeremy is born - 6th Generation (Tani & Jason)

**This timeline is a business timeline about the history of the Otani businesses in Oxnard (who started them and who runs them today) with a little Oxnard, American and world history mixed in for time reference. It is not an Otani family timeline or tree - it is missing over 75 family members dating all the way back to Toraichi’s children in the early 1900’s