Steve Aoki’s 6 Siblings: All About His Brothers and Sisters, Including Supermodel Devon

Mar. 15, 2025

Steve Aoki with his sister Devon Aoki backstage during day 2 of the Made in America Festival at Los Angeles Grand Park on August 31, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Chelsea Lauren/WireImage

Chelsea Lauren/WireImage

Steve Aokiand his siblings — Kana Grace, Kevin, Kyle, Echo, Devon and Jenifer — may not have been raised together, but some of them still share a tight bond.

When the DJ was born in 1977, his father, Benihana founderRocky Aoki, already had three children. He had previously welcomed his daughter Kana Grace and son Kevin with his then-wife Chizuru Kobayashi. Around the time of Steve’s birth, Rocky welcomed another son, Kyle, with Pamela Hilberger.

After Rocky’s split with Kobayashi, he went on to marry Hilberger and welcome two more children: daughters Echo and Devon. He later discovered he had one more child, a daughter named Jenifer.

Despite the fact that Steve didn’t have the most traditional upbringing, he says his father made sure that his children spent time together. They joined him on trips around the world and built relationships with one another that have stood the test of time.

“We all became really close, and that’s one thing that my dad did with his family is he put all his kids together and was like, ‘You guys be friends. You guys are brothers and sisters,' ” Steve said onIn Depth With Graham Bensingerin 2021.

Here’s everything to know about Steve Aoki’s siblings: Kana Grace, Kevin, Kyle, Echo, Devon and Jenifer.

Steve has two brothers and four sisters

Steve Aoki poses with his sister Echo Aoki and his brother Kyle Aoki before the start of the “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival at Beacon Theatre on April 15, 2016 in New York City.Brian Killian/WireImage

Brian Killian/WireImage

While all of Steve’s siblings have the same father, they share different mothers. When Steve was born in 1977, he became the youngest of three children his father Rocky shared with his then-wife Kobayashi. The couple were already parents to Kana Grace and Kevin.

Meanwhile, Rocky was also in a relationship with Hilberger. The pair welcomed three children before and after their wedding in 1981 — Kyle, Echo and Devon.

Rocky also welcomed a daughter named Jenifer with another woman but didn’t learn about the pregnancy until a paternity suit was filed. Rocky toldNew York Magazinein 2007 that he had “three kids from three different women at exactly the same time.”

While Kobayashi initially forgave Rocky, she ended their marriage when she learned he had a child with Hilberger. They divorced, and Rocky married Hilberger in 1981.

Rocky took his children on trips around the world

Rocky Aoki with his daughters Echo and Devon at a party at Joe’s Pub.,.Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

“My mom raised me. But my dad would get all his kids together on trips, and we would have these amazing adventures across the world, hanging out with pops," Steve toldNextSharkin 2015. “And I learned a lot from him. His work ethic was nothing like I’ve ever seen. He was always putting that drive into his kids.”

The DJ continued, “He was just a very interesting person to look up to, being your father and then waking up all of the sudden you are in a hot air balloon track in the middle of a farmland in Belgium or traveling across Japan and watching him do all this other stuff. So I really got to see the inside scoop of his ethic and all of the stuff that he was doing at that time.”

Devon is a well-known model and actress

Devon Aoki attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2023 in New York City.Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Steve’s younger sister Devon entered the world of modeling when she was 13 years old after being discovered at a concert in New York. Reflecting on the moment withi-Din 2006, Devon revealed that a photographer approached her while she was trying to get behind the scenes at the event.

“I’d blagged my way backstage at this Rancid concert because I heard The Ramones were there, and I was desperate to meet The Ramones. I was 13," she recalled. “And someone came over and asked if they could shoot me for a story inInterview. And I said I’d do it if they introduced me to The Ramones. And they did.”

Not long after, Devon became the face of Versace. She has since appeared on the covers of magazines and in major campaigns for brands including Chanel, Hugo Boss, L’Oréal and Tiffany & Co. Devon has also been featured in music videos as well as films including2 Fast 2 Furious,Fast Five,Sin CityandWar.

Kevin has followed in his father’s footsteps as a restaurateur

Steve Aoki with his brother Kevin Aoki.Aoki Teppanyaki Waikiki / Instagram

Aoki Teppanyaki Waikiki / Instagram

Growing up, Kevin watched Rocky run his restaurant empire and “wanted to be just like him.” After graduating from college, Kevin began working for his father, helping run restaurants around the United States. As a manager, he occasionally managed his siblings, who worked as bartenders or hosts at Rocky’s restaurants.

Kevin eventually decided he wanted to lead his own establishment. In 1999, he and his father opened the first Doraku Sushi location in Florida — a spot they hoped would attract a younger audience.

“For me, I just envisioned a restaurant that I would like to hang out at — a little cool Japanese sushi bar. So that’s where I started," Kevin said on theKampai Sugaipodcastin 2023. “I was like, ‘What makes me happy? What is somewhere where I would want to hang out?’ "

He continued, “I went from daddy’s teppanyaki restaurant to something more cool, something more relevant, something that attracted the younger audience.”

Kevin later opened several more restaurants, rolling out his businesses in clusters in only a few cities like Las Vegas and Honolulu. He eventually founded the Aoki Group, which holds his restaurant portfolio, including 1938 Indochine, Aoki Teppanyaki and Qing Mu Noodle.

Kevin has also collaborated with Steve on several restaurants, including Bluetree Café and Kura Kura Pa.

“Growing up, when Kevin finished college, he went into the restaurant business. I was always in music. My first real job, I was working for Kevin in Dallas,” Steve toldHonolulumagazinein 2017. “Kevin kind of ushered me into the family business. He opened up Bluetree, got me involved and said, ‘Let’s work together’ because as a health nut, it makes sense for me.”

Most of Steve’s siblings stay out of the public eye

Steve Aoki poses with his mother Chizuru Kobayashi and sister Kana Grace Nootenboom before the start of the “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival at Beacon Theatre on April 15, 2016 in New York City.Brian Killian/WireImage

While Steve has chosen a career in the spotlight, most of his siblings have preferred a quiet life outside the public eye. Although they all had the chance to work in the family restaurant business, they opted to go in different directions.

Kana Grace attended New York University and got her master’s degree from Vanguard University. She nowworks as a marriage and family therapistat a counseling center in Nevada. She has two daughters named Yumi and Natalie,who have pursued modeling.

Like her sister, Echo also attended New York University. According toher LinkedIn,She went on to serve on Benihana’s board of directors, focusing on marketing. She left the company in 2010 after becoming a mom but later re-entered the workforce as an accountant.

At one point, Kyle was an aspiring movie producer and as the youngest, Jenifer has remained private.

Before Rocky’s death in 2008, he sued his children amid family financial drama. Issues for the family began in the late 1990s when Rocky pleaded guilty to insider trading, and he stepped down as chairman of Benihana Inc. after his liquor licenses were revoked.

Then, in 2002, Rocky married his third wife, Keiko Ono, after knowing her for less than a year. At the time, Rocky was ill and not expected to live long. He kept the marriage a secret for several weeks before finally telling his children.

Worried that Keiko was after their father’s fortune, Kana Grace and Kevin gave Keiko a postnuptial agreement that would require her to renounce her interest in Rocky’s Benihana assets. She declined to sign, and Rocky did not press the issue.

After receiving the letter, Rocky officially filed a lawsuit against Kana Grace, Kevin, Kyle and Echo. In the lawsuit, he claimed they “breached their fiduciary duties” when they lost the Benihana of Tokyo Trust’s controlling interest in Benihana Inc.

The family’s stake had previously been reduced from 50.9 percent to 36.5 percent, partially due to the board’s concern about Keiko’s potential power. He also claimed they stopped paying him a salary and were trying to “wrest control” of the company.

The legal troubles continued for years, during which Rocky changed his will and disinherited the four children he was suing, according toFortune. Jenifer was never included in his will, and the other siblings were not able to reach a resolution before Rocky died in 2008.

Steve and Devon fought for control of their inheritance

Steve Aoki and his sister Devon Aoki during T-Mobile SIDEKICK iD Launch at T-Mobile Sidekick Lot in Hollywood, California.Mark Sullivan/WireImage

Mark Sullivan/WireImage

In 2014, Rocky’s two children, Steve and Devon, who he did not disinherit, had a breakthrough in the case. According toTMZ, a judge awarded Steve and Devon 50 percent of the Benihana of Tokyo trust each, although they would have to wait until they were 45 years old to access the funds as per prior guidelines of the trust.

While Steve turned 45 in November 2022, Devon is still several years from being old enough to access the trust.

In the following years, the brother and sister fought to remove Keiko as a trustee so she couldn’t spend the money in the trust. Steve and Devon continued to petition a judge in 2020, claiming that Keiko had wasted money on gimmicks for the restaurant, perNew York Post.

Most recently, in March 2024, the motion to remove Keiko as trusteewas denied.

source: people.com