Kana Grace Nootenboom and the Many Branches of Her Family Life

More than a famous family connection

Kana Grace Nootenboom built a marriage and family therapy career while raising two daughters who entered modeling and navigating the complicated legacy of the Benihana family. Her surname connects her to models Yumi Nu and Natalie Nootenboom. Her birth family connects her to Benihana founder Rocky Aoki, DJ Steve Aoki, and model and actress Devon Aoki. Those connections are substantial, but her own professional work deserves room beside them.

Kana is also identified as Kana Aoki Nootenboom. Grace sometimes appears as the name used for her within family accounts. Her exact birthday and birthplace are not securely established, so I would avoid assigning her the precise date repeated by many brief online biographies.

Growing up within the Aoki family

Rocky Aoki was born in Tokyo on 9 October 1938. In 1964, he opened Benihana in New York, building a restaurant business that made theatrical cooking part of the dining experience. He also pursued wrestling and powerboat racing. His life carried the restless energy of a man who wanted several stages at once.

Kana’s mother, Chizuru Kobayashi, was Rocky’s first wife. They married in 1964 and divorced in 1981. Their children were Kana, Kevin, and Steven, better known as Steve Aoki. Kana grew up in Newport, California, although a detailed childhood chronology is not established.

I would keep Chizuru’s identity separate from an animation professional who shares her name. A matching name alone does not establish that Kana’s mother worked in animation.

Rocky’s parents were Yunosuke and Katsu Aoki. Their small Tokyo coffee shop belongs to the earlier family business story, preceding the American restaurant enterprise that made Rocky famous.

Brothers and half siblings

Kevin Aoki followed a restaurant path and has been associated with Doraku Sushi. Steve, born on 30 November 1977, became an internationally known DJ and producer and founded Dim Mak. Kana is older than both men.

Rocky’s second marriage, to Pamela Hilburger, produced another group of children: Kyle, Echo, and Devon. Devon was born on 10 August 1982 and became known for modeling and films including 2 Fast 2 Furious and Sin City. She is Kana’s half-sister, rather than a full sister.

Another acknowledged child of Rocky’s is Jennifer Lynn Crumb, whose first name also appears as Jenifer in some accounts. Altogether, Rocky had seven children. Their shared father did not mean they all grew up in one household.

Rocky married Keiko Ono in 2002. That later marriage became central to the disputes over the family trust and estate after his death on 10 July 2008.

Raising Yumi and Natalie

Kana’s daughters are Yumi Nu, born on 23 September 1996 in Englewood, New Jersey, and Natalie Nootenboom, born approximately four years later. Their father is publicly identified as Brent. His fuller name and his current marital relationship with Kana are not firmly established here.

The family moved from New Jersey to Maryland when Yumi was about seven and Natalie about three. After roughly seven years, they moved to Newport, California, where Kana had grown up. The daughters have described racism in the predominantly white Maryland community and a later process of reconnecting with their Japanese heritage.

I find those experiences more revealing than the easy description celebrity family. They show identity being negotiated inside an ordinary sequence of moves, childhood questions, and family conversations. Fame elsewhere in the family did not insulate the girls from belonging and exclusion.

Kana had done some modeling herself and brought Yumi to shoots as an infant. Both daughters later became working models. Yumi also pursued music and appeared on the 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover as the first plus-size model of Asian-American descent to do so. Natalie became known for modeling, including a notable Anna Sui runway appearance.

Steve has supported his nieces’ creative ambitions. He signed Yumi to Dim Mak when she was 21 and introduced Natalie to a music mentor. Those links make him part of their professional landscape as well as their family circle.

Building a therapy career

Kana earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a master’s degree in clinical psychology, with marriage and family therapy training, from Vanguard University. The exact graduation years are not securely established.

Her documented professional role is clinical director at Healing with Grace Counseling and Ketamine Center in Henderson. Her background includes licensure in Nevada and California and training in approaches including EMDR, Internal Family Systems, couples work, play therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

I would describe those as her professional credentials and listed areas of training, without using them to promise treatment results. Her daughters have associated her therapy background with emotional intelligence and self-reflection within the household. That is a personal family perspective on her work, rather than a complete portrait of her clinical practice.

The Benihana trust dispute

Kana, Kevin, and Kyle served as trustees of the Benihana Protective Trust, created in 1998. Later disagreements involved Rocky’s changing estate plans, his marriage to Keiko, and efforts to keep trust assets within his descendants’ line.

Kana was a named participant in the litigation. That role is clear. Her personal financial benefit is much less clear. Public descriptions of the eventual trust outcome identified Steve and Devon as equal beneficiaries, with distribution at age 45.

The distinction matters. I would not describe Kana as having personally received a specified multimillion-dollar inheritance when no dependable amount paid to her is established. Values attached to Benihana stock, companies, or trust assets are not interchangeable with her personal net worth.

Her counseling income is also unpublished. A public session fee, where listed, would indicate a professional rate rather than annual earnings or assets.

FAQ

Who is Kana Grace Nootenboom?

She is a marriage and family therapist, the daughter of Rocky Aoki and Chizuru Kobayashi, and the mother of Yumi Nu and Natalie Nootenboom.

Is Steve Aoki her brother?

Yes. Kana, Kevin, and Steve share both parents. Devon Aoki, Kyle, Echo, and Jennifer Lynn Crumb are half-siblings through their father.

What did she study?

She earned a bachelor’s degree at New York University and a master’s degree at Vanguard University. Her professional training centers on clinical psychology and marriage and family therapy.

Is her exact age known?

Her exact birth date is not securely established here. I would avoid treating commonly repeated dates as confirmed merely because several short biographies use them.

Did she receive half of the Benihana trust?

The described equal trust shares belonged to Steve and Devon. Kana’s participation as a trustee and litigant does not establish a personal distribution or a reliable net-worth figure.