was a Japanese

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

food writer Food writing is a literary genre that focuses on the cultural and historical significance of food. It encompasses various forms, including recipes, journalism, memoirs, and travelogues, and can be found in both fiction and non-fiction works. Food ...

, and founder/leader of the charity "Kagurazaka Women's Choir".

Biography

Katsuyo Kobayashi was born in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

in 1937. A graduate of

Tezukayama Gakuin University is a private university with campuses in the cities of Ōsakasayama and Sakai in Osaka Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bor ...

, she became a homemaker after marriage. When she got married at the age of 21, she couldn't cook although she was a homemaker. She started learning how to cook from her mother and neighbors who could cook well. In 1963, initiated by a letter to a TV program, her career as a gourmet scholar started: she got her own TV program at the local television station in Osaka. In 1970, she debuted as an essayist, and published many cookbooks and essays. She appeared on NHK's cooking programs such as “Kyou no Ryouri (Today’s Dinner)” for 26 years and received public attention. She also created household products. Her serving dish “Kiai” was awarded the Good Design Award by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion Organization, which is instituted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan, in 1990. In addition, her English cookbook “The Quick and Easy Japanese Cookbook” was awarded the Best Cookbook in Asia by the Gourmand World Cookbook Award in 2000. She published nearly 200 cookbooks and essays and she also supported people who are living in the disaster areas of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in 1995. In 1994, she participated in the TV cooking contest ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle buil ...

'', winning against

Chen Kenichi , known professionally as was a Japanese chef and restaurateur, best known for his role as the Iron Chef Chinese on the television series ''Iron Chef'' (料理の鉄人). Nicknamed The Szechuan Sage, he wore a yellow outfit and rose into Ki ...

. Kobayashi, whose son Kentarō is also a celebrity chef, published more than 200 books. A strong believer in

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution was drafted following the surrender of Japan in World War II. It came into effect on 3 May 1947 during the oc ...

, she was one of the founders of ''Magazine 9''. After suffering a

subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid (brain), arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the human brain, brain. Symptoms may include a thunderclap headache, severe heada ...

in 2005, she died on January 23, 2014, of

multiple organ failure Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring immediate medical intervention. There are different stages of organ dysfunction for certain different organs, both in acute and in chronic ...

References

External links

Katsuyo recipes
smart phone site)
Katsuyo Kitchen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Katsuyo 1937 births 2014 deaths Japanese chefs Japanese food writers Writers from Osaka Women food writers