MURFREESBORO – Maybe somewhere it is written: Man shall not live by burger and fries alone. 

Obeying that injunction, the ‘Boro’s restaurant menu continues to expand with the recent opening of a high-quality Japanese eatery with moderately priced entrees – where Korean food is now also available. 

Georgetown Square’s Sakura (Japanese for “cherry blossom”) Japanese Restaurant is owned by Korean-born Japanese cuisine chef James Han, who offers traditional Japanese favorites like teriyaki steak and sushi on the menu, but also serves up off-menu Korean dishes on request, like spicy Bulgoki and Kim chi. 

In fact, the very customers often likely to special order Korean delicacies are Japanese diners themselves, such as Nissan executives – no surprise since Japanese and Korean food share some similarities. 

With only 120 Koreans counted in Murfreesboro in the 2000 census out of a then city population of 68,816, the ‘Boro is probably not yet ready for a full-fledged Korean restaurant, notes the Seoul-born Han, who came to Middle Tennessee from San Francisco. There, he managed a Japanese restaurant as part of a 33-year career as chef, manager and restaurateur. 

Many Japanese restaurants, Han adds, are owned by Koreans, who have made it a popular entrepreneurial niche for themselves. 

Cutting the sushi at Sakura with a $1,000 trademark knife – the equivalent of a professional musician’s instrument – is certified sushi chef Ken Chang, hired in from Atlanta.