Akio Otomo

Akio Otomo was born on August 27, 1979 in Sapporo, Japan. He passed away on December 29, 2022. He is survived and sincerely mourned by his immediate family: wife, child, and cats in America, his mother and brother in Japan, as well as his extended family and many friends in both Japan and America.

The kanji used to write his name (Akio) in Japanese mean “right life.” He held his beliefs strongly and sincerely, believing that the choices one makes can help change the world, so he strove to follow what he felt was the correct path and do the right thing for his family, friends, and the planet. The kanji for his surname, Otomo, mean “big friend.” Akio was a good friend to others and was well loved and respected in return. Many of his close friends in Japan were long-term, people he had known since grade school. Regardless of when they met him, all of his friends miss him.

In his youth he was involved in the punk rock scene in Sapporo. After high school he toured Europe as the bassist of a punk rock band, Bollocks. Music remained important to him throughout his life, and his trade-mark facial hair was a tribute to his favorite musician, Kiyoshiro Imawano. Akio frequently bought his daughter instruments, and his final Christmas gift to her was a guitar that matched his own.

He began working in the restaurant industry in Sapporo in 2000 and then moved to Tokyo in 2003. In April 2006 he met Kalin Wilson, an American living in Tokyo; they were married eight months later. In 2011 they welcomed their daughter to the world. To celebrate her first birthday they both got commemorative tattoos. Akio had a botanically accurate image of the leaves and berries of the rowan tree tattooed on his forearm. That tattoo was later joined by a depiction of his other “daughter,” the family’s beloved cat, Creamy.

In 2010 he opened his own small bar/restaurant, Hokkai Sakaba Tanne, in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It specialized in Hokkaido regional beverages and cuisine. He ran it successfully for two years before deciding to sell it in order to become a stay-at-home dad. Akio often said that this time, “changed my life.” Caring for his daughter helped him begin to view food and nutrition in a new light. He also became interested in gardening and began to dream of becoming an organic farmer.

In 2015 the family moved to the United States and settled in Sarasota, Florida, where Akio soon found employment as a chef at Whole Foods. He continued his interest in organic gardening and kept a home garden. Making food for his family was important to him, and the smile on his face as he watched his daughter enjoy her food was a delight to see. In recent years he had begun to dream of doing more cooking for children.

He also enjoyed fishing, soccer, and watching One Piece. His favorite color was green.

It is hard to know what and how much to write; I suspect that he would feel like less is more.

If my words could weave themselves into a magic spell to bring him back, I would keep writing forever. But, how can a person be reduced to a few paragraphs? Words on a page cannot describe him. They seem dry, brittle and incapable of telling you who he was. He was so much more.

He is loved. He is missed. Every day.

My world feels wrong without him.