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Lots of "Survivor" contestants apply to be on the show repeatedly, hoping to get their shot at outwitting, outplaying and outlasting others to win $1 million.

Not Jonas Otsuji, a longtime "Survivor" fan who — at the urging of his wife — finally took the leap and applied to be on the show a few months ago. He was quickly cast in "Survivor: One World," which debuted Wednesday, Feb. 8, on CBS/Channel 2.

"I guess the whole Japanese sushi chef thing was appealing," he said with a laugh.

Japanese sushi chef from Utah, that is. Otsuji, who lives in Lehi, runs his own business, Sushi Surfer Catering, which serves "Japanese food with a little twist," and teaches classes across the Wasatch Front.

It's the third career for the 36-year-old Hawaii native who came to Utah to go to Brigham Young University. He owned a Provo photography store before getting into real-estate investing in Las Vegas and made big bucks before the housing crisis hit, leaving him with $2 million in losses.

"So I had to reinvent myself all over again," he said. "One day I went to a sushi bar and I was, like, 'Hey, I'm Japanese. I speak Japanese. I love sushi. Why don't I become a sushi chef?' "

The fact that he speaks the language — he learned it on a mission to Japan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — was appealing to the owner of Sushi Roku in Las Vegas, who "took me on even though I had zero skills. Most of the guys there had culinary degrees and lots of experience. I was the only guy that basically just walked on."

He worked his way up from a job that paid $9.50 an hour with no tips — not enough to support his wife and three kids — to building a successful business.

So, in a way, Otsuji is already a survivor. Along the way, he learned skills that can help in the game of "Survivor."

"Just being able to adapt — I think that's pretty much the key attribute that has helped me both before and during 'Survivor,' " he said. "Just be open to change, and when change happens, I just kind of come up with a new plan. Some people would call that flying by the seat of your pants, but I just think that that's life."

Of course, his fellow contestants didn't know all this. They just saw a guy who didn't look like much of a competitor.

"And that's exactly what I wanted them to see," Otsuji said. "I wanted them to look at me and say, 'This guy doesn't look that tough and I don't think he's going to be a physical threat at all.' "

He's seen the Internet sites pointing out that he's "the only guy without a six-pack." Which was OK by him.

"What I wanted to do is sort of have a little bit of an out-of-shape look so that people won't perceive me as a threat," he said. "They don't know how tough I can be."

Scott D. Pierce's column appears Mondays and Fridays in The Mix. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce; read his blog at sltrib.com/blogs/tv/