Rokusaburō Michiba - wikipedia Rokusaburō Michiba The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. ( August 2017 ) This article should be divided into sections by topic, to make it more accessible. Please help by adding section headings in accordance with Wikipedia 's Manual of Style. ( June 2017 ) Rokusaburo Michiba ( 1931 - 01 - 03 ) 3 January 1931 ( age 86 ) Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan Culinary career Cooking style Japanese cuisine Television show ( s ) Iron Chef In this Japanese name, the family name is Michiba. Rokusaburo Michiba ( 道場 六三郎, Michiba Rokusaburō, born 3 January 1931 ) is a Japanese cuisine chef most notable as the first Japanese Iron Chef on the television series Iron Chef. He was on the show from its inception in 1993 until his retirement on his 65th birthday, January 3, 1996. After his retirement as an Iron Chef, he made sporadic appearances on the show, and producers even dedicated a special 1996 tribute episode to him called The Legend of Michiba. Rokusaburo Michiba originally balked at his blue attire ( a samue outfit with a flat cap ), but was flattered into wearing it. Michiba was once considered a maverick for his philosophy of `` there are no borders to ingredients. '' Although primarily a Japanese chef, Michiba was unafraid of incorporating decidedly non-Japanese elements into his dishes -- something that did not sit well with more traditional - minded Japanese cuisine chefs. Indeed, in his first battle against French cuisine - trained Kobayakawa Yousei, Michiba was given a theme ingredient virtually foreign to Japanese cuisine : foie gras. Michiba was declared the winner. In fact, of his outstanding career win - loss record of thirty - two wins, five losses, and one tie, he, arguably, can take some personal and professional satisfaction that his record against the traditionalists is a fine ten wins and one loss. Michiba 's trademark was `` Inochi no Dashi '' ( 命 の 出汁 ; いのち の だし or `` Broth of Vigour '', ) a combination of plenty of katsuobushi, skipjack tuna shavings and edible kelp ( konbu ), which he used during virtually every battle. Michiba was also skilled in calligraphy, often using precious minutes, usually at the beginning of a battle, to write a menu. On one occasion, however, Michiba forgot to write a menu and lost a battle ; on another occasion, he did it at the last moment and lost as well. In an episode where his sous - chef challenged Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Michiba explained that he wrote out his menu partly to clarify what he wanted to present, and partly to inform his assistants so that they would know which ingredients to gather and prepare. Several challengers also wrote out their menus during their battle ; commentators referred to this as `` taking a page out of Iron Chef Michiba 's book. '' His imaginative mind and skills allowed him to, on occasion, finish a battle earlier than expected and prepare extra dishes. Despite being the oldest of the Iron Chefs, he holds the Kitchen Stadium record for most dishes in a battle : eight. In each contest, he would also try to create one dish that an ordinary person could duplicate without specialized equipment or knowledge. Because of his age, experience, and excellent time management skills, Rokusaburo Michiba was regarded as the senior Iron Chef. His `` borderless Japanese cuisine '' is often not only considered to be neo-Japanese in style, but a precursor to neo-Japanese cuisine. Michiba 's tenure was interrupted by an illness in mid-1995 that briefly hospitalized him, and afterwards, although his cooking form was as good as ever, he began tiring from the stress of appearing on the show and running his three restaurants : Poisson Rokusaburo in Akasaka, and Ginza Rokusan - tei and Kaishoku - Michiba in Ginza. It only worsened during overtime battles which were made possible by the addition of a fourth judge. First course of a tasting menu offered at Ginza Rokusan - tei According to Takeshi Kaga, after his decision to retire, Rokusaburo Michiba vowed to personally recruit his successor. The show continued with just Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai and Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi for two months. But, finally, it was announced that Michiba had completed his mission with the naming of Koumei Nakamura. `` All my instincts told me he was the one, '' said Michiba. Initially, Nakamura refused, but was convinced to accept. Nakamura 's first battle on March 1, 1996 was against French chef Kiyoshi Suzuki. During the introduction of the theme ingredient of the day, Chairman Kaga stated that he could not resist choosing foie gras, wanting to relive some of the magic of Michiba 's first victory using the same ingredient. Michiba was also extremely supportive of Nakamura 's successor, Masaharu Morimoto. Inarguably, Morimoto took Michiba 's `` no borders to ingredients '' philosophy to a different level. The show often referred to the relationship between Michiba and Morimoto as that between master and student, especially after an episode when Michiba flew to New York to visit Morimoto 's restaurant, Nobu. So supportive of Morimoto was Michiba that, before his infamous New York battle with chef Bobby Flay, Michiba gave Morimoto a large box of katsuobushi flakes with a hand - calligraphed message : `` respect the old, but seek out the new. '' Michiba made appearances throughout the 2012 revival of Iron Chef through interviews on former assistant Kenichi Miyanaga, a seat on the tasting panel and as a competitor against new Iron Chef Jun Kurogi in the revival 's 2012 `` Ryouri no Tetsujin Dream Match ! World Iron Chef Live Battle Special. '' Manga The manga series Kandō Ō Retsuden featured a story about Michiba in volume 2, called Michiba Rokusaburō Monogatari. The data collecting and organizing was made by Yasuo Negishi and it was illustrated by Yoshihiro Takahashi. External links official site Ginza Rokusantei References Jump up ^ Negishi, Yasuo ; Yoshihiro Takahashi ( 15 July 1998 ). Kandō Ō Retsuden 2 : Michiba Rokusaburō Monogatari. Japan : Shōnen Sunday Comics. pp. 101 -- 190. ISBN 4 - 09 - 125412 - 8. Preceded by first Iron Chef Japanese October 17, 1993 - January 3, 1996 Succeeded by Koumei Nakamura Iron Chef Iron Chef ( episodes ) Iron Chefs Chen Kenichi Hiroyuki Sakai ( 1994 to 1999 ) Yutaka Ishinabe ( 1993 and 1995 ) Rokusaburo Michiba ( 1993 to 1996 ) Koumei Nakamura ( 1996 to 1998 ) Masahiko Kobe ( 1997 to 1999 ) Masaharu Morimoto ( 1998 to 1999 ) Chairman Takeshi Kaga Commentators Kenji Fukui Yukio Hattori Kitchen reporter Shinichiro Ohta Misc `` The 30 % Iron Chef '' Iron Chef 2012 Revival ( episodes ) Iron Chefs Jun Kurogi Yūji Wakiya Yōsuke Suga Chairman Hiroshi Tamaki Commentators Mizuki Sano Yukio Hattori Kitchen reporter Shinichi Tanioka Yurika Mita Daisuke Miyagawa Iron Chef USA Iron Chefs Jean - Francois Meteigner Alessandro Stratta Roy Yamaguchi Todd English Chairman William Shatner Commentators Michael Burger Anthony Dias Blue Kitchen reporter Sissy Biggers Iron Chef America ( episodes ) Current Iron Chefs Bobby Flay ( Battle of the Masters -- ) Masaharu Morimoto ( Season 1 -- ) Michael Symon ( Season 5 -- ) Jose Garces ( Season 8 -- ) Marc Forgione ( Season 9 -- ) Geoffrey Zakarian ( Season 10 -- ) Alex Guarnaschelli ( Season 11 -- ) Former Iron Chefs Wolfgang Puck ( Battle of the Masters ) Cat Cora ( Season 1 -- 10 ) Mario Batali ( Battle of the Masters -- 6 ) Chairman Mark Dacascos Commentator Alton Brown Kitchen reporter Kevin Brauch Other shows The Next Iron Chef Iron Chef America Countdown Iron Chef Gauntlet Video game Iron Chef America : Supreme Cuisine Iron Chef UK Iron Chefs Tom Aikens Judy Joo Sanjay Dwivedi Martin Blunos Presenters Olly Smith Nick Nairn Iron Chef Australia Iron Chefs Guillaume Brahimi Guy Grossi Neil Perry Chairman Mark Dacascos Presenter Grant Denyer Commentator Richard Cornish Iron Chef Vietnam Iron Chefs David Thái Nguyễn Minh Hải Đỗ Quang Long Vincent Tan Yu Zhi Da Presenter / chairman Bình Minh Kitchen reporter Nguyên Khang Thanh Tùng Công Cường Other shows The Next Iron Chef Vietnam Iron Chef Indonesia ( episodes ) Iron Chefs Chris Salans Adhika Maxi Sezai Zorlu Chairman Edward Akbar Field Reporter Yuda Bustara Commentator Kevindra Prianto Soemantri VIAF : 113994956 LCCN : n84154441 NDL : 00371033 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rokusaburo_Michiba&oldid=793849030 '' Categories : 1931 births Living people Japanese chefs Hidden categories : NPOV disputes from August 2017 All NPOV disputes Articles needing sections from June 2017 All articles needing sections Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from June 2017 All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify Articles with hCards Articles containing Japanese - language text Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Talk About Wikipedia 日本 語 Edit links This page was last edited on 4 August 2017, at 10 : 23. 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Question: respect the old but seek out the new
Answer: Michiba