After graduating from high school, with fifteen years, he began working as a dishwasher at the restaurant Matsue Sushi in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was in the same restaurant, where he was trained as a Sushi master. After seven years, he was invited by a regular customer, who was a Peruvian of Japanese descent, to open a Japanese restaurant in Peru. In 1973 at age 24, he moved to Lima, Peru and opened a restaurant with the same name of Matsue in partnership with his sponsor. Nobu was unable to find many of the ingredients he took for granted in Japan and had to improvise, and it was here that he developed his unique style of cuisine that incorporated Peruvian ingredients into Japanese dishes. But after three years, the restaurant had to close. After a short stay in Argentina, where he tried to open a new restaurant, he eventually moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and opened his own restaurant there. About two weeks after the grand opening there was an electrical fire and the restaurant burned down.