Kazuo ‘Kaz’ Kajimura, who ran the most important jazz venue in Northern California for decades, has died following a lengthy battle with dementia.

He was 82.

News of his passing was made public on the website of Yoshi’s, the popular jazz and sushi spot in Oakland that flourished under Kajimura’s watchful eye for more than a half century.

“With heavy hearts, we are sharing that the great San Francisco Bay Area has lost one of it’s legends,” a post reads on the Yoshi’s website. “On Jun 15, Kazuo ‘Kaz’ Kajimura joined his mother Yoshi Kajimura & father Noriyuki Kajimura in heaven.”

Kajimura will be remembered for tireless work ethic — famously working 12-16 hour days — as he worked to lift Yoshi’s from its humble beginnings as a small 27-seat Japanese restaurant in Berkeley to an internationally recognized jazz venue that hosted the genre’s greatest talents over the last 50-plus years.

“Yoshi’s is like no other place on Earth!” Kajimura is quoted as saying. “Everyone loves this place, it is amazing and beyond gratifying to see how we host so many talented artists, bringing all communities and everyone together with music, helping so many businesses with noble fundraisers, and exposing the new generation to real music!”

Kajimura worked to create a venue that not only fans loved to visit — but artists loved to play. It was the type of place that musicians would look forward to reaching on the tour itinerary, knowing that they were going to get a great performance setting, appreciative fans and, perhaps best of all, plenty of great sushi.

“It’s the best club that I’ve played,” legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson once said of Yoshi’s.

And, thankfully, artists and fans will keep right on getting the chance to enjoy this amazing venue — even after Kajimura’s passing.

“The club and restaurant will remain open,” says Marc Zuazua of Yoshi’s. “We are looking forward to honoring his legacy and preparing for the next 50 years!”

The club will honor its co-founder and former co-owner on July 14 with during a free ticketed tribute show titled “Kaz Kajimura – Blues, Jazz, Soul & Love – Celebration of Life.” Admission is free, but tickets are required. (The show is currently listed as sold-out. Visit yoshis.com for more information.)

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Having earned a bachelors degree at the prestigious Waseda University in Japan — and then later a masters degree in China — Kajimura would then move to the Bay Area to earn a masters degree in journalism at U.C. Berkeley. (Later, he’d further add to his already bountiful degree total by adding an MBA from Stanford.)

In 1972, Kajimura and his two partners — cook/painter Hugh “Hiro” Hori and artist Yoshie Akiba — opened a small restaurant in Berkeley. They decided to call it “Yoshi’s” after Akiba (although Kajimura’s mother was also named Yoshi).

The restaurant would outgrow its 27-seat capacity and the team decided to move it to a bigger space on Claremont Avenue — and the Yoshi’s legacy really took flight as live jazz music entered into the mix.

As the Yoshi’s name continued to grow in notoriety and acclaim, the club was once again facing the same problem — having outgrown its digs. Thus, in 1997, the club would move once again — going from the 130-capacity Claremont spot to the current establishment at Jack London Square in Oakland.

From that state-of-the-art location — which combines a 310-seat club with 250-seat restaurant and 60-seat bar & lounge area — Yoshi’s would host some of the biggest names in jazz, including Oscar Peterson, Brad Mehldau, Chick Correa, Wynton Marsalis, Pharoah Sanders, Poncho Sanchez, Charles Lloyd and Diana Krall.

In 2007, Yoshi’s ventured across the Bay Bridge to open a second location on historic Fillmore Street in San Francisco. This second venue hosted plenty of highlights during its run, but the opening of the nearby SFJAZZ Center in 2013 — which quickly became the new epicenter for jazz music in the Bay Area — certainly had a big impact on the ability of Yoshi’s San Francisco to draw both big-name jazz artists and big-time jazz crowds.

The venue ended up being sold — and renamed — in 2014.

Still facing stiff competition for jazz crowds from SFJAZZ Center, Yoshi’s Oakland greatly broadened its musical mix in recent years, focusing more strongly on R&B and soul, while still continuing to book jazz.

Hal Campos — a longtime employee who Kajimura endearingly referred to his “his only son” — was eventually appointed GM of Yoshi’s and then tagged to be Kajimura’s successor.

Kajimura is survived by wife Dadre and sisters Masako, Keiko, Akiko and Toshi as well as nephews and nieces.

Kaz was a local icon, and founder of Yoshi’s Claremont, Yoshi’s San Francisco and Yoshi’s Oakland. Since 1972, Yoshi’s became Kaz’s passion, and his life’s dedication. Those that had the privilege to work with Kaz, knew he was no stranger to working 10 to 16 hours days, 6 days a week…for over 50 years! Kaz invested his whole life and his whole family inheritance to navigate Yoshi’s through both different locations, and really tough times. Yoshi’s Oakland wouldn’t exist without him.

More information will be added to this story.