Our Story
We’re Mike & Lei, the husband/wife co-founders of Nana Ai Katsu. Our daughter, Nanami, is the little boss and food critic for all our dishes. Her favorite and recommended menu item is the spam katsu musubi.
We opened up during the pandemic in August 2020 when we both found ourselves with a lot of free time. While we've always loved to eat, we are both from different industries. I've been in the technology and start-up space and Mike's been in retail and the wellness industry. It was the scariest and best time for us to start our family business together. A few years prior, Mike wanted to open up a food truck after practicing the layering technique but we put it on hold until 2020.
Even when times were hard the local community came out to support us and we will never forget your kindness and love. We hope to continue our family business and grow our team for Nanami to be a big part of when she is older.
On our days off we enjoy spending time with our 2 huskies, Motsu Nabe and Panko, eating out together, and traveling to Japan.
Thank you for supporting our local katsu shop, for including us in your communities, and for growing Nana Ai Katsu from a food stand in a marketplace to a restaurant in Kaimuki!
#communitymade
Local katsu shop with the purpose of bettering our community
2025 Organizations we are working with:
Aloha Animal Sanctuary , Hongwanji Mission School, Welo Ka Hae (Roosevelt High School), HUGS, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, and Hear for Hope.
Nana Ai Katsu is named after our daughter Nanami and means, “Nana loves Katsu”.
DA-gashiya by Nanami
Nanami opened up her own dagashiya stand in Nana Ai Katsu! Items for sale will be inexpensive small snacks and toys from Japan. It’s honor box system and you can put your coins in the box before packing up your items in the bags provided.
Updates: New items from Japan available as of 3/25/25!
instagram: da.gashiya.by.nanami
Nanami’s Free Kids Library
Come and visit our free library located inside the shop! Most book donations are for elementary keiki but we sometimes receive young adult books too. Kids are welcome to take a book home. You can also find coloring sheets designed by Tiny Hearts 808 and origami paper.