Dr Yanagihara Naoyuki is the Executive Chef of Yanagihara Cooking School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine, located in Akasaka, Tokyo. He was born into a family specialising in the Kinsaryu (近茶流) culinary discipline.

Kinsaryu, a cuisine that specialises in the cooking technique of Edo (present-day Tokyo), has been passed on from generation to generation since the 1800's, during the Edo period. It is also closely associated with the tea ceremony. Kinsaryu techniques showcase the impeccable use of knives, the careful handling of seasonal ingredients, beautiful food arrangement, etiquette, and the philosophy of washoku (和食 / Japanese Cuisine).

·✶· Stepping into the International Stage ·✶·

Dr Yanagihara holds a Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Fermentation Science and Technology from The Tokyo University of Agriculture and has worked as a researcher for Marukin Chuyu, a well-known soya sauce company on Shodo Island.

His international venture began when he became part of the kitchen crew on the Dutch tall ship Swan fan Makkum, one of the largest Brigantines in the world. Since then, he has been involved in a variety of culinary events around the world, including the International Food Conference “Worlds of Flavour”, at the Culinary Institute of America, and the Kikkoman sponsored “Sushi Master” in Tel Aviv, Israel where he was part of the jury for Japanese cuisine. He has also worked with various ministries in Japan to promote traditional Japanese cuisine around the world.

·✶· World Cultural Ambassador of Japanese Cuisine ·✶·

Dr Yanagihara’s work and expertise in promoting traditional Japanese cuisine led him to be chosen by Japan’s Agency of Cultural Affairs to be a world cultural ambassador of Japanese cuisine. In this role, he gave lectures on Japanese cuisine and culture at different schools throughout the world such as The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, and St. Helena, CA; George Brown College and La Cité college in Canada; the Higher Education Institute of Brasilia and the Anhembi Morumbi University of Sao Paolo, Brazil; and Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand among others.

During the Expo Milano in 2015 which was themed “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”, he was one of nine chefs selected to represent Japan. In 2018, he was appointed as the “Japanese Cuisine Special Goodwill Ambassador” by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

·✶· A Chef with Many Hats ·✶·

Washoku Beyond Recipes
– Why Japanese Food is a Way of Thinking –
28 February 2026 @ JCC

Dr Yanagihara enjoys sharing about the many facets of Japanese cuisine and is involved in various projects and activities. To date, he has written 16 books about traditional Japanese cuisine and Japanese food culture, and frequently contributes articles to Japanese print and online publications. He is also a cuisine consultant for several television programs in Japan and makes regular appearances on Japanese television and in other media.

He continues to teach at the cooking school in Tokyo and works on a number of projects with his father, Mr Yanagihara Kazunari, the president and head of Kinsaryu, all while focusing on the education and promotion of traditional Japanese cuisine.

Read on for JCC's interview with Dr Yanagihara Naoyuki about what inspired him to become a culinary expert and his philosophy on Japanese cuisine, especially on ingredients and cooking technique. You may also watch our video with Dr Yanagihara on our Facebook!

Q: What inspired you to become a culinary expert?

A: I was born into a family of chefs that goes back many generations. The Yanagihara family has been in the culinary trade since the Bunka-Bunsei era, back in the 1800s. My grandfather opened a cooking school, and I am now the third generation to carry on the family tradition. Having watched my father from a young age, I always felt that I would end up cooking myself. However, my academic interests lay in microbiology and fermentation — specifically, the production of sake, soy sauce and miso. I found a university where I could study these subjects, so I studied there. I also spent some time abroad, and then returned to study Japanese cuisine under my father’s guidance. Now, I run my own cooking school.

私は代々料理人の家系に生まれまして、文化文政時代、１８００年代から、柳原家は料理をしてきました。 私の祖父の代になって料理教室を開いて、私は３代目として今、料理をしています。 小さい時から父を見ていたので、何となく料理をするのかなと思ってはいましたが、その中で自分が好きな学問が微生物学、醸造ですね、お酒とか醤油とか味噌とか。そういった学問が勉強できる大学があり、そこで勉強して、またちょっと海外に少し出たりもして、また日本料理を父のもとで勉強して、今、料理教室をやっています。

Traditional Japanese Soy Sauce in a Ceramic Pot
© アフロ（Aflo）via Canva

A: I wonder... I’m the sort of person who could survive on rice alone, but apart from rice, my favourite dish is fugu (pufferfish). Fugu sashimi. It’s a poisonous fish, but within the realm of Japanese culinary techniques, fugu cuisine is the pinnacle. I hold a fugu licence myself. Whether I’m preparing it or eating it, fugu is what I find most delicious. So, I suppose fugu is what I’d want to eat before I die.
(On deep-fried pufferfish) It’s a fish with a particularly rich flavour and umami amongst white-fleshed fish. It goes very well with deep-frying, and then there’s the milt. Chawanmushi made with pufferfish milt is absolutely delicious.

何だろう。僕はご飯があれば生きていけるタイプなのですが、ご飯以外なら、大好きな料理がふぐ。ふぐ刺し。毒を持っている魚ですけど、日本料理の技術のなかでふぐの刺身は一番レベルが高いですね。私もふぐの免許を持っています。作って、食べて、美味しいと思うのはふぐ。ですから、死ぬ前に食べたいのはふぐですかね。
（ふぐのから揚げについて） 白身の中でも特においしさ、うまみが強い魚。唐揚げにもとても合うし、これから白子とか。白子の茶碗蒸しも最高においしい。

Q: When it comes to cooking, do you place importance on tradition, or do you sometimes incorporate modern techniques and adaptations?

A: Both. I have dedicated my life’s work to researching Edo-period cuisine. By studying and recreating dishes from over 200 years ago, I have made various discoveries along the way. Traditional cuisine is the foundation of modern Japanese cuisine. Modern cuisine was, after all, started by someone. When it continues for 50 or 100 years, it becomes traditional Japanese cuisine. It is our mission to create dishes that will endure for the next 100 years. Although this is a tradition, I believe it is also a chef’s mission to continually incorporate new techniques and ingredients and give them form. It is not just about tradition. Nowadays, we often use meat, particularly beef, and we also frequently use oil. Traditional Japanese cuisine did not use much oil, apart from special dishes like tempura, but nowadays we make use of it.

両方ですね。 私のライフワークとして江戸時代の料理を研究しています。 なので、昔の２００年以上前の料理を研究して再現して、その中でいろんな発見があったりします。その料理が今の日本料理に繋がっているんです。 今の料理は誰かが始めたわけです。それが５０年１００年続くと伝統的な日本料理になっていく。私たちの使命として、１００年先に残る料理を作っていかなければならない。 これは、伝統ですけども、新しい技術や食材をどんどん取り入れて形にしていく、それも料理人の使命だと思っています。伝統だけというのではないですね。 今なら、肉、牛肉を使うことも多いですし、油を使うことも多いですね。 伝統的な日本料理は天ぷらみたいな特別な料理以外あまり油を使わなかったのですが、今は取り入れています。

Ochazuke
© deeepblue from Getty Images via Canva

Q: Japanese cuisine is very popular in Singapore, and many people there are familiar with Japanese ingredients such as rice, matcha and soy sauce. What would you particularly like to convey to these Singaporeans to help them deepen their understanding of Japanese cuisine as part of Japanese culture?

A: First, let’s look at the difference between Japanese cuisine and foreign cuisine. Japanese cuisine relies on water and fermented seasonings. Many foreign cuisines, on the other hand, rely on oil and spices. They use oil — such as butter or olive oil, or in Chinese cuisine, a generous amount of sesame oil — and add spices to that. In French cuisine, for instance, they use around 200 different spices. You could say that all these cuisines are essentially built on oil and flavour. Japanese cuisine relies on water and fermented seasonings. Water only reaches 100 degrees when boiled. When boiling ingredients, dashi is essential for adding flavour. The seasonings used to flavour the food are fermented seasonings: soy sauce, miso, mirin, sake and vinegar. These are all seasonings produced through microbial fermentation. There are many types of spices. But there are fewer types of fermented seasonings. Besides that, there is salt and sugar. Consequently, the ingredients become crucial. When the natural flavour of the ingredients, the fermented seasonings and the dashi are in perfect balance, that produces truly delicious cuisine.

まずは日本料理と外国料理の違い。海外の多くの料理は油と香辛料。油はバターやオリーブオイル、中華だったらごま油をバーッと使う。そこに香辛料を使う。フレンチなら２００種類のスパイスを使い分けていますね。 日本料理は水と醸造調味料。水は茹でても100度までしかいかないわけですよね。茹でて、そこに味を付けるのに出汁が重要。味を付けるのに使うのは、醸造調味料＝醤油・味噌・みりん・酒・酢。すべて微生物の発酵によって作られる調味料なんです。 香辛料は種類がたくさんあります。 醸造調味料は種類が少なく、あとは塩と砂糖。そうすると、大切なのは食材。食材本来のおいしさと、醸造調味料と出汁、この３つのバランスが取れると本当においしい料理になっていくわけですね。

People in Singapore have a truly fascinating food culture. It incorporates elements from various regions across Southeast Asia and the wider Asian continent. It features a variety of oils and spices. I think it would be interesting for you to experience the differences between this and Japanese cuisine.
Because the way the dishes are put together is really quite different.

シンガポールの皆さんは本当におもしろい食文化を持っていますよね。いろんな地域の、東南アジアやアジアのいろんな要素が入っている。そこに油と香辛料がいろいろ入っている。それと日本料理との違いを感じてもらえたら面白いと思います。 本当に料理の組み立て方が違いますから。

Resources:
Chicago Gourmet - Naoyuki Yanagihara
Instagram - @chef_naoyuky
KINSARYU Yanagihara Cooking School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine - Profile
Wikipedia - Swan Fan Makkum