Rokusaburo Michiba (道場六三郎, Michiba Rokusaburō; born January 3, 1931) is a

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 bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, best known as the first Japanese chef on the popular television series ''

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 ...

''. He was part of the show from its debut in 1993 until his retirement on his 65th birthday in 1996.

Career as Iron Chef

Although Michiba is a Japanese chef, he is known for incorporating non-Japanese elements into his dishes. In his first battle against chef Yousei Kobayakawa (

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

trained), Michiba was given

foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...

as the theme ingredient and won. Michiba was renowned for his "Inochi no Dashi" ("Broth of Vigor"), a blend of

katsuobushi is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as . Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried kelp—''kombu''—are the main ingredients of ...

(

skipjack tuna The skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'') is a perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Katsuwonus''. It is also known as katsuo, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna or victor fish. ...

shavings) and

konbu ''Konbu'' (from ) is edible kelp mostly from the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. It may also be referred to as ''dasima'' () or ''haidai'' (). Kelp features in the diets of many civilizations, including Chinese and Icela ...

(edible kelp), which he incorporated in nearly every battle.

Hobbies

Michiba was also interested in

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

and often used the beginning of a battle to write a menu. Occasionally, he forgot to write the menu or wrote it at the last moment, which led to him losing multiple battles. In an episode where his

sous-chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members of th ...

challenged

Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show ''Iron Chef'' and its spinoff ''Iron Chef America''. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food. Career Morimoto was born in Hiroshima, where he rece ...

, Michiba explained that he wrote his menus to clarify his presentation and to inform his assistants which ingredients to gather and prepare.

Illness and retirement

Michiba's tenure was briefly interrupted in mid-1995 due to an illness that required hospitalization. Following his recovery, he began experiencing fatigue from the combined stress of appearing on the show and managing his three restaurants: Poisson Rokusaburo in Akasaka, Ginza Rokusan-tei, and Kaishoku-Michiba in the

Ginza district Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous internationally ...

. The introduction of a fourth judge also contributed to longer overtime battles. According to

Takeshi Kaga , real name , is a well-known stage and movie actor in Japan who is best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show ''Iron Chef'' produced by Fuji TV. Biography Kaga was born on October 12, 1950, ...

, after deciding to retire, Rokusaburo Michiba vowed to recruit his successor. The show continued with just French Iron Chef

Hiroyuki Sakai is a Japanese chef who specializes in French cuisine. Sakai is best known as the second, final, and longest-serving Iron Chef French on the Japanese television show ''Iron Chef'', first appearing at the beginning of 1994 (after Yutaka Ishinabe r ...

and Chinese Iron Chef

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 ...

for two months. Koumei Nakamura was appointed as his successor; he initially refused but later accepted. Nakamura's first battle was on March 1, 1996, against French chef Kiyoshi Suzuki. During the introduction of the theme ingredient, Takeshi Kaga, or Chairman Kaga, stated that he wanted to choose foie gras because he wanted to partially recreate Michiba's first victory by using the same ingredient. Michiba also supported Nakamura's successor,

, who also frequently used non-Japanese ingredients. The show often referred to the relationship between Michiba and Morimoto as master and student, especially after an episode where Michiba flew to New York to visit Morimoto's restaurant, Nobu. Before Morimoto's

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

battle with chef

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

, Michiba gave Morimoto a large box of

Katsuobushi is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as . Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried kelp—''kombu''—are the main ingredients of ...

flakes with a message: "Respect the old, but seek out the new."

Subsequent appearances

Michiba made appearances throughout the 2012 revival ("Ryouri no Tetsujin Dream Match! World Iron Chef Live Battle Special") of ''

'' through interviews with former assistant Kenichi Miyanaga, a seat on the tasting panel, and as a competitor against new Iron Chef Jun Kurogi.

Iron Chef tie-in events

In 2017, Michiba participated in an Iron Chefs All Star Dinner event at

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

’s

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

Career outside Iron Chef

Michiba has operated several restaurants across Japan, most notably Kaishoku Machiba in the

district of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. As of 2022, Michiba was still running these restaurants at 91.

Manga

The

manga series are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

''Kandō Ō Retsuden'' featured a story about Michiba in volume 2, titled "Michiba Rokusaburō Monogatari". It was compiled by Yasuo Negishi and illustrated by

Yoshihiro Takahashi is a Japanese Mangaka, manga artist. He writes under a pen name in which his first name ''Yoshihiro'' is spelled out in hiragana (よしひろ). Takahashi was born on September 18th, 1953, in Higashinaruse, Akita, a village in the Tōhoku region ...

External links

Michiba Official Website

Ginza Rokusantei

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michiba, Rokusaburo 1931 births Living people People from Kaga, Ishikawa Japanese chefs