Palace Saimin as the vision of a young entrepreneur, Kame Ige, who immigrated from Okinawa in 1924. Mrs. Ige started her restaurant in 1946 and named it after “Palace Theater” that stood on the corner of Ke’eaumoku and Beretania Streets a few doors down from the original location. In 1950 the restaurant moved to Kalihi next to the current location of Tamashiro Market, and a few years later Mrs. Ige moved it to its current location. In 1980 Mrs. Ige sold the restaurant to her trusted waitress, Setsuko Arakaki, who ran it until 2010, when her daughter Susan Nakagawa took it over with husband Scott.

The recipe for the dashi was carefully documented by Susan and Scott as they measured every ingredient, timed every process and learned each technique from Setsuko to ensure it came out right. Setsuko and late waitress of over 40 years, Yoshiko Takahashi, would taste each pot and provide their candid feedback as Susan and Scott continued to perfect the soup. Finally after 4 months of brewing multiple pots per day, Setsuko and Yoshiko gave the thumbs up and the recipe and brewing instructions were finalized to ensure consistency and quality.