– This is a very ordinary question, but what are your favourite foods?
[Basically, I like Japanese food. Such as sushi and fish. All sorts of Japanese-style culinary productions. After that, maybe Italian.]

– Conversely, is there anything that you absolutely refuse to eat?
[Anything involving internal organs. I’ve always hated that. When I was a kid, I wouldn’t eat onions. Now, I love them, though.]

– How did you overcome your dislike of onions?
[It’s not that I particularly tried to overcome it, I just happened to eat them once in a while and naturally got to like them. By the way, I used to hate Japanese food. So when my family took trips to onsen (1) or something, I didn’t have anything to eat (laughs).]

– (laughs) And now, what are your typical eating habits like?
[Let’s see… My wake-up time varies a lot, and I don’t usually eat right after I get up. Only after four, five hours. Eating two meals a day is plenty for me. And sometimes I only have one meal.]

– Do you sometimes go without eating?
[I don’t do that. I’ve always been against not eating. Same goes for not sleeping.]

– tetsu-san, you certainly don’t cook for yourself, do you? Do you not take coffee or tea, either?
[I don’t. When I’m at home, I usually drink mineral water, and sometimes carbonated water. And sake, when it’s late. I don’t usually drink coffee or tea. Only a few times a year. How to put this… it doesn’t taste good enough to make any myself. Also, if I pour myself a drink from the kettle, I know I have to clean it afterwards, and that’s too much trouble for me. I’m the type to solve a problem with money when it’s possible (laughs). If I feel like having tea, I can just go to a café, and when I’m hungry, I just go pick something up. So, I usually eat out.]

– So, you don’t have your meals delivered?
[Sometimes I do. Like for Chinese or for pizza. They don’t bring servings for one, so I take what I have left and parts of my next meal, and then mix them. For example, parts of my lunch and dinner. I combine my options. When I’m relaxing at home, I end up not wanting to go out to eat. Ultimately, it’s a pain.]

– (laughs) Haven’t you ever tried to cook?
[I haven’t done any that can really be called cooking, but I’ve made meals. Like making prepackaged curry where you just need to add hot water.]

– Oh, so you eat that sort of thing. That’s a bit surprising.
[Yeah, but only when it’s an emergency. If I don’t want to go out, and it’s too late at night for delivery, but I’m huuuungry, that’s the only time I’ll eat it. I always keep something ready to eat around. Like a packed lunch or something. Once I even ate raw rice. But how long ago was that? It’s like, there was absolutely nothing else left (laughs).]

– Somehow, you give the impression of being quite a gourmet, tetsu-san.
[Is that so~. I’m a gourmet? I’m certainly happy when I get to eat delicious things. It’s one of life’s little pleasures. But ever since I started living on my own, I’ve thought convenience store bentou (2) was “good”. Since I was in my teens. Now I don’t eat convenience store bentou quite so much. Even though they should be making much tastier ones now than back then.]

– When did your tastes start to broaden?
[I must have been around the time I turned pro. I was taken to all sorts of receptions, and I got to eat great food at every tour location. I think that’s what made me broaden my taste a bit.]

– Do you remember any foods that made you exclaim “This is great!” when you first tried them?
[Let’s seeee… there was the sushi from that sushi place in Aoyama. Someone from the record company took me there not long after the debut. It was so good that I thought it was the only thing deserving to be called sushi. It was a great piece of information. I didn’t like sushi much until then, but that made me love it. I didn’t have much money at the time, so I only had that. Then, when I went to Kouchi, I had katsuo no tataki (3), and tonkatsu ramen (4) in Fukuoka. Later, in Osaka, there was this little food shop near where I used to live that had a set meal called “Denbee”. It’s a tiny little store where you have to sit at the counter, run by an old couple. There was a looong delay before my order came out. It must have taken more than 30 minutes (laughs). Their food was delicious. But they’ve gone out of business since then.]

– Did they make something exceptionally delicious?
[Their katsudon (5) was the best. I’ve yet to find better katsudon anywhere. I think the reason it took so long was that they were preparing it very carefully. Their prices were a bit high. Still lower than 1000 yen though.]

– Well, it sounds like a nice memory. After all, food is important to you, isn’t it, tetsu-san?
[That’s right. It’s part of why I try so hard at work. It’s a fundamental human desire. You know, I haven’t eaten anything yet today. …… Ah~ I want some yummy shabu-shabu(6) (laughs).]

-Interviewer : Harada Sachi
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Onsen is usually translated as hot springs. Japanese onsen resorts are usually in rural/mountain areas and are typically very traditional, including elaborate traditional meals. Go back.

2. Bentou is the archetypal Japanese box lunch. Usually contains rice, some sort of meat or fish, and maybe something vegetable, all packed together in a pleasant and convenient way. Go back.

3. Lightly boiled bonito. Bonito is a type of fish. Often served with ginger and radish. Go back.

4. Long noodle soup with pork cutlets.Go back.

5. A contraction of tonkatsu (pork cutlets) and donburi (rice bowl with toppings). Go back.

6. Shabu shabu is thinly sliced meat, cooked only slightly, and usually served with vegetables. The name comes from the sound it makes while cooking. Go back.