By day, she's city's newest restaurant owner. By night, she's Indy's prima ballerina

INDIANAPOLIS — Her father's dream was never a secret and, somewhere along the way, it became Yoshiko Kamikusa's dream, too. From the time she was old enough to feel that fire, that passion, as she performed ballet, she understood what it was like to want something so badly.

Her father's fire, his dream, was to one day open a restaurant.

Looking back, Kamikusa regrets that she took for granted all those amazing dishes Koichi Kamikusa whipped up day after day with no professional culinary training. Koichi was self taught in the kitchen, and he was a master chef of just about everything.

Asian dishes were his favorite. Sushi, soups from bones, rice bowls, curry and ramen. But Koichi could also grill a mean steak, and he had a natural touch, an innate talent, to conquer any recipe that came his way.

By day, Koichi was a business consultant, architect and mechanical engineer. By night, he would make his Japanese comfort food and street fare for his family and friends. Always, in the background, his dream lingered, but it was nothing more than that.

Until 2018 when a wonderful collision happened in Indy, when both Kamikusa's dream and her father's dream took off.

Indianapolis Ballet Principal Yoshiko Kamikusa takes a break during rehearsal Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.

First, Kamikusa landed a spot as a principal dancer for Indianapolis Ballet at the age of 22, a remarkable feat usually reserved for older artists. Then, her parents came to Indy as she embarked on a career that would make her the city's prima ballerina.

As Kamikusa's dream became a reality — performing in all the major roles, including Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and as Odette (the white swan) and Odile (the black swan) in Swan Lake — her father started realizing his own dream, a Japanese-inspired eatery in the Factory Arts District.

Koichi officially started making plans to bring his Legacy Tokyo restaurant to the city in January 2024. He began plotting all the little details. He had so many ideas for the menu.

But 10 months in, his dream was interrupted by the nightmare that he had hoped and prayed would never return. And this time, it came back with a vengeance.

Stage 4 lung cancer: His third battle was different.

Cancer had come for Koichi twice before, but he was a very stubborn man, Kamikusa says, and so he prevailed. Then in November 2024, as Koichi was picking out furniture for the restaurant and sketching the layouts, those unwanted but familiar symptoms returned.

Koichi was diagnosed with advanced Stage 4 lung cancer. And his third battle was different.

"He went through chemo, he went through radiation, he went through the rigor with that. He fought until the very end," Kamikusa says. "And we really wanted this restaurant to, hopefully, be motivation for him. And I think it was."

Yoshiko Kamikusa (left) with her parents who moved around the world with her as she pursued her love for ballet. Opening a restaurant was the dream of her late father, right.

In March 2025, two weeks before Kamikusa was set for her roles in Swan Lake, Koichi began having trouble breathing, then it got worse. The ambulance was called, and Koichi was taken to the hospital.

The oncologist had to tell the family the dire prognosis. There was nothing more they could do for Koichi.

"I'm really grateful I got to spend that week with him because, in hindsight, as stressful as it was, I think I got the time to say my goodbyes," Kamikusa says. "And it felt like closure."

In his final days, Koichi and his daughter laughed together, and they cried together. Koichi gave his daughter words of wisdom. Believe in yourself. Work hard for what you want.

Koichi lived four hard but wonderful months after his diagnosis, and he died seven months before his restaurant opened with his wife, Tokuko, and his daughter by his side.

It gives Kamikusa great comfort to know that as her father's life ended, he knew his dream would live on.

"He really wanted to see it through," Kamikusa says, pausing for a moment. "But, you know, we made it happen for him."

'This was Yoshi's dad's dream'

A huge pot is simmering on the stove In the kitchen of Legacy Tokyo. It's a 10-hour process to make the bone broth, which has been getting rave reviews on TikTok from local foodies.

"It's all about the broth. You can do noodles, you can do whatever, but if the broth's not right, it's not good," Will Watson, the master of the broth and general manager of Legacy Tokyo, says. "It's hours of work, but it's just the most rich, milky ... it's just so good."

Watson has been a savior for Kamikusa and her mother as they opened Legacy Tokyo in October.

"I have a really hard time telling the story without crying," Watson says, as he stands inside the restaurant. And he does. "This was Yoshi's dad's dream .... and he passed away last March."

After Koichi's death, Kamikusa and her mother were struggling to manage the many moving parts of opening a restaurant, from construction to permits and inspections. They needed guidance from a veteran in the industry.

At the time, Watson was ready to retire after a career with the award-winning Cunningham Restaurant Group and Slapfish. Then, he got the phone call he will never forget. It was Kamikusa.

"And she told me the whole story about her father's dream and how he had passed away, and I was crying," Watson says. "And I was like, 'Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow morning.' And that was it. I've been here every day since. They're the most wonderful people. I just love their story."

Yoshiko Kamikusa answers questions Wednesday, April 8, 2026, during an interview at Legacy Tokyo in Indianapolis.

Kamikusa sits down at a table inside Legacy Toyko to tell her story, which is really her mother and father's story, too.

There are so many of Koichi's touches all around her. He planned the layout of the space, the dining area, the kitchen. He planned the decor, including the red and black bricks dotted on the walls behind her. All the furniture was Koichi's choice.

He was a man who knew what he wanted. But he was also a man who was willing to compromise when it came to what his wife and daughter wanted.

Take ballet. That wasn't Koichi's first choice for his daughter.

"He was the typical Asian parent. So I think, ideally, he would have wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, one of those," Kamikusa says. "But I think he saw that I was putting in so much work, and I had passion for it. And I think I also had talent for it. He was like, 'You know what? I'm going to support you, so go all the way.'"

'It was scary'

Kamikusa was born in Tokyo and raised in Hawaii, mostly because her mom was in love with the beautiful beaches and blue waters, a haven Tokuko calls "the most beautiful place on earth."

Hawaii is where ballet came into Kamikusa's life, and where she felt that fire and passion she couldn't get enough of.

It happened on a whim. Koichi and Tokuko had friends whose son went to a swimming pool with a ballet studio above it.

"And I think my mom really wanted me to just be in the arts but in something also slightly athletic," Kamikusa says. "And so that's where they first took me to my first ballet class, and I haven't stopped since."

Kamikusa, admittedly, didn't fall in love with ballet right away.

"But I think as I went, I liked the routine of it. And of course, as I practiced, I got better at things," she says. "And so I was like, 'Oh, this is something that I'm getting better at.' And I think that kind of drew me to keep going."

Yoshiko Kamikusa takes off her pointe shoes Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at the Indianapolis Ballet.

Kamikusa went to her first international ballet competition when she was 11.

"And that was where I saw all of these amazing dancers that were technically ahead of me," Kamikusa says. "And so I was like, 'I would really like to improve and be at the level that they're at.' And that's when I said, 'OK, I'm going to go with this profession.'"

Kamikusa and her parents moved to Canada, first to Vancouver where Kamikusa's professional training began at the Goh Ballet Academy. She spent five years there before getting her first professional contract at 18 years old with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

After five years in Winnipeg, Kamikusa was looking for a change of environment, "something to inspire me further as an artist," she says. She started auditioning for other ballet companies, and she fell in love with one.

"It was scary," Kamikusa says. The Indianapolis Ballet was a brand new company in 2018. But she saw it as a new opportunity to spread her wings further.

She had no idea at the time that her move to Indy would be the place where her father's dream would follow.

'I'm grateful for the resilience he put in me to keep going'

In the six months since its debut, Legacy Tokyo has drawn a loyal following. On the weekends, especially, the restaurant is packed.

"The amount of regulars that we have is astounding to me," Watson says. "People that come in week after week after week on the same day, at the same time."

Those patrons come for the rice bowls, a signature dish of Sutadonya, the Japanese franchise Legacy Tokyo partners with. Sutadonya has more than 200 locations in Japan, but this is its first foray in the United States. The menu at Legacy Tokyo features both Sutadonya items and local dishes.

There is karaage don, a Japanese fried chicken, lemon pepper beef, curry and Watson's seafood dishes. Tokuko is working to integrate some of her late husband's recipes into the menu.

Kamikusa, who has been in charge of the overall operations of the restaurant, is looking to get more involved in the day-to-day workings. This summer, as her full-time ballet job goes on a brief hiatus, Kamikusa plans to shadow Watson.

"I'd love to see myself growing in this restaurant," she says. "And really learning what it means to run the business."

Legacy Tokyo photographed on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Indianapolis.

Owning a restaurant while being the city's principal ballerina is no small task. Kamikusa has practices, rehearsals and performances. She cross trains. And she, along with her mother and Watson, keep a restaurant thriving.

Kamikusa is humble and modest about all of it. Her father taught her that. But there are people who walk into Legacy Tokyo and recognize the owner as their city's star ballet dancer.

"She is the franchise quarterback of Indianapolis Ballet," says Krystin Wiggs, a former dancer and Indianapolis Ballet board member. "She's been here the longest, eight years, since the company was founded. She's been in all the biggest roles."

And this weekend, for the final performance of Indianapolis Ballet's season, Kamikusa will play a lead role as the Bird in "Peter and the Wolf."

And she will be thinking of her father.

"He was a very strong and stubborn man, and that's a trait that has helped me get through a lot of things in life, too," Kamikusa says. "So, I'm very grateful for the resilience that he's put in me to keep going,"

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: [email protected].