LOS ANGELES -- Growing up in Saitama, Japan, Yoko Hasebe didn't dream of sushi. From the age of 7, she studied ballet and later jazz dance at the Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo. Fate brought her to California and a series of jobs at Japanese restaurants, where she found her way into the kitchen, rolling maki alongside sushi chefs such as Kimiyasu Enya at Enya and Morihiro Onodera of Morihiro.