1. Hiroaki Aoki, better known as Rocky Aoki, was a Japanese-born American restaurateur, professional offshore powerboat racer and amateur wrestler.
21 Facts About Rocky Aoki
1. 2.
Rocky Aoki was the founder of the Japanese cuisine restaurant chain Benihana, and Genesis magazine.
3.
Rocky Aoki was the father of musician Steve Aoki and model and actress Devon Aoki.
4.
Hiroaki Aoki was born in Tokyo, the son of Yunosuke Aoki and his wife, Katsu.
5.
Rocky Aoki's family were descended from a samurai clan from Wakayama Prefecture, which served in the Kishu Domain.
6.
Rocky Aoki attended Keio University, where he competed in track and field, karate, and wrestling before being expelled for fighting.
7.
Rocky Aoki was offered wrestling scholarships from several different American colleges.
8.
Rocky Aoki attended Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and later transferred to CW Post College on Long Island.
9.
Rocky Aoki won the United States flyweight wrestling title in 1962,1963 and 1964.
10.
In New York City, Rocky Aoki worked seven days a week in an ice cream truck that he rented in Harlem while studying restaurant management at New York City Community College.
11.
Rocky Aoki partially funded and crewed the Double Eagle V, the first balloon to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean.
12.
Rocky Aoki competed professionally as an offshore powerboat racer along with the 1986 APBA world champion Powerboat throttleman Errol Lanier, a former Fort Lauderdale, Florida, fireman who saved his life in a near-fatal powerboat crash in 1979 under the Golden Gate Bridge.
13.
Rocky Aoki twice won the Benihana Grand Prix in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, sponsored by his own company - the second win came in 1982, three years after his devastating San Francisco crash.
14.
On June 9,1998, Rocky Aoki was charged with insider trading and profiting by more than $590,000 from it.
15.
In 1999, Rocky Aoki pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and was fined $500,000 and given three years' probation.
16.
Rocky Aoki was a recipient of the Award of Excellence from The International Center in New York.
17.
Rocky Aoki was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995.
18.
Rocky Aoki died on July 10,2008, of pneumonia in New York City.
19.
Rocky Aoki's hepatitis was reportedly the result of a blood transfusion after a 1979 speedboat crash under the Golden Gate Bridge.
20.
At the time of his death, Rocky Aoki had seven children and was married to his third wife Keiko.
21.
Rocky Aoki's grave is at the cemetery attached to Joshin temple in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.