{image1}Ko-no-hana Japanese Restaurant, 815 E. Brady St., closed for business in the middle of last week, according to Fujiko Yamauchi, owner of Izumi's, another East Side Japanese eatery.
Although the two restaurants are unrelated, Yamauchi said that she is friends with Ko-no-hana owners Janet Boettner and Izumi Kabata. Yamauchi believes that "management problems" were the cause of the restaurant's closing.
The owners could not be immediately reached for comment.
Yamauchi added that a number of former Ko-no-hana employees visited Izumi's this weekend in search of employment.
Ko-no-hana opened in summer 2002 in the space occupied for many years by Cataldo's pizzeria.
