Japan

Speaker

Masuhiro Yamamoto

Gastronomy critic (Tokyo, Japan)

Masuhiro Yamamoto was Japan's first gastronomy critic. Now, decades later, he feels that his work consists of discovering new talent before anybody else does.

Yamamoto was born and reared in Tokyo's Asakusa neighbourhood, and as a child he loved eating in restaurants with his parents. A sushi maestro took the young Yamamoto to other outlets to enable him to taste and compare recipes, and this gave him an intensive course in the appreciation of culinary arts. That was how his passion for gastronomy emerged.

In 1973 he travelled to France on the strength of an obsession with the Michelin Guide. Having discovered a world of gastronomy in which critics played a vital role, he decided to become one of them, and went back to Tokyo at a time when this profession did not exist in Japan. They wrote about restaurants, but there was no criticism as such. In 1982 he published his first book, Tokyo Aji no Grand Prix 200, a classification that ushered in his subsequent career in gastronomy in press, television and radio.

In 2001 the French government awarded him the "Mérite Agricole Chevalier" for his assistance in publicising French cuisine in Japan. In 2014 he was appointed an "Officier" on the "Mérite Agricole" decoration. 

Masuhiro Yamamoto

Partners

Organizers

El Diario Vasco Grup GSR

Public bodies

GOBIERNO VASCO HAZI Diputación de Gipuzkoa
DONOSTIA SAN SEBASTIÁN FOMENTO DONOSTIA SUSTAPENA FOMENTO

Sponsors

ICEX CONSEJERÍA DE AGRICULTURA, PESCA, AGUA Y DESARROLLO RURAL. JUNTA DE ANDALUCIA SAN MIGUEL JAEN SELECCIÓN alimentosdespaña Sabadell Ayuntamiento de Madrid Región de Murcia 1.001 SABORES REGIÓN DE MURCIA ASTURIAS, COCINA DE PAISAJE TENERIFE CADIZ BALFEGÓ CAFÉS BAQUÉ ACQUAPANNA S.PELLEGRINO TURISMO PROVINCIA DE CÁCERES FAGOR PROFESSIONAL Lacor La Creme Getariako Tzakolina Riedel Ondarreta

Official Supplier

Makro

Contributors

TURESPAÑA AQUANARIA SAMMIC JANBY DIGITAL KITCHEN JOSPER WINTERHALTER Ostras Sorlut ICC Klimer Le noveau chef AIALA CEBANC