The Japanese restaurant Kikunoi is undoubtedly one of Japan's leading restaurants, even without all the Michelin stars (of course, the Akasaka branch has maintained two stars since 2007, and the Kyoto main branch has maintained three stars since 09).
The third-generation owner, Yoshihiro Murata, has just published "What is Honma ni Oishii? (What is Honma ni Oishii?)" (Shueisha). We spoke to him in between his busy schedule, as he holds many positions, including Honorary Chairman of the Japanese Culinary Academy. If you want to know what "honma ni Oishii" is, then this book is for you.
A sense of crisis about the future of Japanese cuisine
"The book from 30 years ago and the book from now say the same thing (laughs)."
When I told him that I had also read his earlier book, "Kyoto Cuisine Lucky Bags," published 30 years ago, he replied with a laugh. When you think about it, it's amazing that it's "the same as it was 30 years ago." His various insights were already firmly established long ago.
In particular, I was definitely aware of a sense of crisis about the future of Japanese cuisine starting shortly before 2000.
"Just at the beginning of November this year, traditional sake brewing was registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Sake and Japanese cuisine are like a married couple, so I think this has become a major catalyst for Japanese cuisine to become a global cuisine.
Currently, there are 2600 million Japanese people, and our food self-sufficiency rate is 37%. In 50 years, the population will be 8000 million. When Japan loses in national power to Singapore, and to neighboring Korea and Thailand, and becomes one of the poorest countries in Asia, will Japanese children go hungry? This is the problem. That is why I established the Japanese Culinary Academy in 2004.


Suggestions and cooperation from Alain Ducasse
The point is to popularize Japanese cuisine overseas so that Japan can make a living from it. There is no other chef who has worked harder than Murata to promote Japanese cuisine to the world. If we dig up memories, it was thanks to his tremendous efforts that washoku was registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2013.
"The story goes that Alain Ducasse, who I've known for a long time, was the first to register French cuisine as a cultural heritage. He then told me, 'The world may be vast, but Japan is the only country that can register it in the form of a cuisine. You should be the one to do it.'
I've always thought that in Japan, culture is the lifestyle culture, with things like tea ceremony, flower arrangement, calligraphy, and other things in parentheses. Japanese cuisine was in those parentheses. It's food culture, so why can't it be included in culture? And since Japan is a country that is weak to outside pressure (laughs), I decided to register washoku as a cultural heritage.
In fact, it was Ducasse who helped make this happen. He introduced me to Jean-Robert Pitt, the president of the Sorbonne, and lobbied extensively."
Of course, it will be a success, but it won't be in Murata's best interest.
"It has nothing to do with my business directly. It's a mistake to think that it's okay if only my restaurant is busy. However, if you consider Japanese cuisine as a whole, your restaurant can only do well if the whole thing is doing well."
Murata has always been a "bird's-eye view" person with a producer's perspective.
"Well, I guess it was because I was involved in student activism (laughs)."
Speaking out against a sushi restaurant in Ginza


Nowadays, famous chefs flock to visit producers, but he has been doing this for over 30 years. He is a great pioneer.
"I don't have any grand ideas or anything like that. I just do what I like. I don't do anything unpleasant (laughs). But I believe that you can't make a dish that is better than the ingredients. It's difficult to make something delicious without good ingredients. After all, ingredients are created by God."
He also gives some very reasonable advice about the price of food that not many people would say. For example, he clearly states in the book that if you eat sushi in Ginza and it costs 50,000 or 70,000 yen, ordinary people won't come.
"It seems like I've incurred a lot of animosity from sushi restaurants. But I don't care if people dislike me.
I mean, a package of sushi from a convenience store costs 400 yen. If it costs 200 yen, it's 200 times that. There's no other food like that. If a manju costs XNUMX times more, it doesn't make sense."
Only wealthy people or foreigners with no idea what's going on will come to a restaurant with prices like that. A tempura restaurant that charges 12 yen is just insane.
"Something like a pandemic like COVID-19 or the Lehman Shock could easily happen. If that happens, all the restaurants that charge those prices will go out of business. They will all go out of business if they don't keep their prices within a range that normal people can afford and say, 'It's a bit extravagant, but I guess I'll go then.' What I want to say is that sushi, tempura and soba are all important parts of the Japanese diet. I don't want that culture to disappear."
Restaurants and traditional Japanese restaurants are "public"
If there are no Japanese people who use the food on a daily basis, restaurants will not flourish. This is the basis of his thinking.


"That kind of thinking is only held by restaurants in Kyoto, which have endured many eras. The era changed rapidly, from the Toyotomi era to the Tokugawa era and then to the Meiji era. But the way the townspeople live their lives remains the same, so in Kyoto we don't pander to the system.
The first time a townsfolk visits a restaurant is when they are carried by their grandmother to a shrine. Then there are ceremonies such as the Shichigosan ceremony, Coming of Age Ceremonies, matchmaking, and memorial services - all of these are the work of restaurants. The basis of restaurants in Kyoto is to operate at a price range that allows these people to visit. At our flagship store, prices start from 20,000 yen, and the most expensive restaurant in Kyoto is probably 35,000 yen.
People say that Kyoto is a place with a high barrier to entry, but unlike Tokyo, it's not a place where people think that teachers with badges are up to no good (laughs)."
In other words, restaurants and traditional Japanese restaurants are considered "public" properties.
"Since I'm the owner and I do what I want, I can set the prices however I want. I think of it as my store. If that's the case, I want to say make it a members-only store.
As long as you put your name in the phone book and advertise it in various places, it's a "public facility". The owner just needs to think about what kind of customers they want to come. They say "my food", but do they really serve the same food to a 85-year-old child and an XNUMX-year-old grandmother?
If someone says, "If you can't eat my food, then don't come," then you should probably quit working at a restaurant.
Each customer is different, so you make food that suits them. For example, a restaurant would make thin cuts for a 90-year-old grandma. Nowadays, there are vegetarians, people with allergies, and halal. We never turn anyone down.
The person who pays is the most important person. It's the same in any business. You make things to suit the tastes of the person who pays. That's what a restaurant is all about, finding out things that are difficult for customers to say and skillfully incorporating them into the dish."
The taste of Osaka and the spirit of Kyoto cuisine
Also, the most important thing is the amount of salt in the food.
"A long time ago, my dad used to tell me, 'Your cooking is terrible, it's too delicious.' At the time, I rebelled, saying, 'What are you talking about? As long as it's delicious, isn't that good?' Food that is too delicious is food that satisfies you at the time. That's what Osaka food is like. In Osaka, they call it 'kumi-mi' (a taste that is based on the food's flavor).
In contrast, Kyoto is about "zanshin," stopping just before you finish. For example, when you're drinking soup, you might think, "Huh? It's a little thin," but by the time you've finished it, it's just right. When you get home and sleep overnight, you'll think, "Yesterday's soup was delicious," and if that feeling doesn't remain in your mind, then the dish won't be a good one."


French and Italian cuisine, which use a lot of salt, could be said to be about the "taste." The Japanese Culinary Academy, which he founded, mentioned at the beginning, has also produced knowledge about salt.
"For example, I used to add salt when boiling green leafy vegetables, but a university professor's research showed that you don't need to add salt. Cooking is based on science, so we have to study it together with scientists, and currently 300 of the Academy's 100 members are scholars.
When we started the association, French and Italian cuisines were popular, and Japanese cuisine was on the decline. That was a major reason for creating the association. We thought that in order to revive Japanese cuisine, we had to scientifically verify the mechanisms of cooking. We had to change the way we worked, relying only on intuition and experience. For that, we absolutely needed scholars."
"Japanese Cuisine Encyclopedia" created by volunteers
For example, how much kelp or how much bonito flakes to add to make soup stock. The book "Japanese Cuisine Encyclopedia" covers all of this. It is a painstaking work, with detailed explanations of Japanese cuisine and beautiful photographs.
"I started with how to use knives and how to fillet fish, and now I'm at the fifth book on 'grilling.' I'll finish with the sixth book on 'cooking rice' and 'simmering.'"
The funds for this came from Ajinomoto, Kikkoman, Takara Shuzo, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, etc.
"We receive the funds as a business contract, so we keep a proper accounting and report it. We don't eat or drink anything at all (laughs). We, the academics, and the professors are all volunteers.
It costs money to translate the English version, but I ask them to make it cheaper for the public good, or to make it cheaper because I'm making a book that will still be around for 100 years (laughs)."
You can read the entire series for free online.
"Young people can't afford to buy a book that costs 8000 yen. If you read this, you'll understand the logic. If you understand the logic, you can develop it further."


The "Japanese Cooking Encyclopedia" is a large work consisting of five volumes. The photo shows "How to fillet fish" which explains the first of the five techniques of Japanese cooking (cutting, steaming, baking, boiling, and frying).From "Mukaita I: Cutting Techniques and How to Fillet Fish."
All five volumes of the digital book can be viewed for free on a special page on the Kyoto Prefectural University website.Please visit the Kyoto Prefectural University website's "Japanese Cuisine Encyclopedia/JAPANESE CUISINE Public Special Page."
Spreading "UMAMI" around the world
One of the achievements of the Japanese Culinary Academy is spreading the word about umami (savory flavor) all over the world. The world's taste perception was based on four tastes: sweet, spicy, sour, and bitter. They added umami as a fifth taste. To achieve this, they held seminars and workshops in over 25 countries around the world.
"Just going out wasn't enough, so we asked Ajinomoto to set up the Umami Information Center, and we invited trainees there from all over the world. We covered everything except for airfare. People like Rene Zenepi, Massimo Bottura, and Mauro Fragreco, who are now world famous, were there. I was just a rookie then, but now they're all bigger than me (laughs)."
Thanks to this, even proud France has come to recognize it as having "four flavors plus umami."
"In 2002, receptors for umami were discovered in the taste buds of the tongue, and we had no choice but to accept it. But why add the plus sign? (laughs) The five tastes are now universal."
There is no other chef who works as hard for the public good as Murata, including by promoting nutritional education to children.
Japanese culture is moderation and dignity
Finally, what does Murata think is the Japanese sense of aesthetics?
"In our case, if you ask us what our best meal is, it's in our heads. When it comes to Japanese cuisine, the dishes, food, and ingredients that we serve are all symbols of the season.
At our restaurant, we currently serve a dish called Kinshuuwan, which is a bowl of Tanba-ji porcelain with chrysanthemum flowers floating on top. This makes you think, "Are the leaves already turning red in Tanba?" In other words, it makes you feel like you're taking a trip to the sea or into the mountains."
He says it's the same as a tea room.
"Inside the tea room, there is a single line of text, a tea ceremony tea caddy and various other tools, which all represent the universe. Your mind travels to all sorts of places. It's a culture of 'it goes without saying.'
Rather than seeing a cherry blossom in full bloom painted on a natsume, you feel the spring coming when you open the shoji screen and see a single petal fluttering behind it. That is the culture. I don't think Japan is a country where it's okay to shout whatever you want."
He continues by saying that the recent trend of saying "You'll regret not saying anything" is not very Japanese.
"You have to make it so that people understand without you having to say it, and that it's okay to not shout. What Japanese culture has always sought is moderation and dignity. Moderation is a state of restraint, and the mental tension that comes from maintaining that is dignity.
The most important thing in Japanese cuisine is moderation and elegance, and I think these two things are extremely important in everything Japanese. Well, I guess the secret is the secret."


With Mr. Murata, while looking at the scrolls of Kobayashi Kokei. The place we visited this time, Kikunoi in Akasaka, was so beautiful with its atmosphere and tranquility that it was like being in Kyoto, even though it was in the center of the city.
Yoshihiro Murata
Born in Kyoto in 1951. Traveled to France to study French cuisine while studying at Ritsumeikan University. Returned to Japan six months later. After training at a traditional Japanese restaurant, he became the third-generation owner of Kikunoi in 1993. Opened Akasaka Kikunoi in 2004. Akasaka Kikunoi received two Michelin stars in 2007. Kyoto main store received three Michelin stars and Roan Kikunoi received two stars in 2009. Provided Singapore Airlines in-flight meal Hanagoyomi, and opened Mugai Sanbo, which serves bento boxes and sweets, in 2017. Worked hard to get Washoku: Traditional Japanese Food Culture registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013, and Kyoto cuisine registered as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2022. Has received numerous awards, including the Person of Cultural Merit, and is Honorary Chairman of the Japanese Culinary Academy, a non-profit organization.
Mio Shimamura
Representative, publisher and editor-in-chief of Premium Japan. After working at a foreign advertising agency, he held positions in charge of marketing and PR at top brands such as Walt Disney, Harry Winston, and Tiffany & Co. In 2013, he founded Russo Co., Ltd. He handles PR for various top brands. Because his parents' home was an environment that taught Japanese culture such as tea ceremony and kimono dressing, he acquired the business rights to Premium Japan in 2017 and established Premium Japan Co., Ltd. in 2018.
Photography by Toshiyuki Furuya
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