Japan’s 10 Best Culinary Manga
Plot summaries of my favorite Japanese comic books about food.
#1. Shota’s Sushi (将太の寿司)
When the economic viability of his father’s rural sushi bar is imperiled by an evil sushi chain, 16-year-old Shota makes nigiri to help out. A visiting sushi master recognizes Shota’s prodigious talent, inviting the boy to apprentice at his famous Tokyo sushi bar. Shota hones his skills, first as an entry-level assistant, and eventually as a contestant in the All-Tokyo Rookie Sushi Chef Competition. Shota’s dream is to return home and save his father from the evil chain. (In a seven-book sequel series, Shota accomplishes his mission and reforms the evil chain, which then hires him as a consultant to guide the chain’s expansion into South Korea.)
#2. Ramen Discovery Legend (ラーメン発見伝）
By day, Kohei is a junior executive at Daiyu Trading Company; he wears a suit and acts like a normal salaryman. But at night, even though it’s against company policy to moonlight, he secretly operates a ramen stall in a nearby park. His aim is dassara — to leave salaried life so he can open his own ramen restaurant. (Dassara is an amalgum of the character 脱, datsu — “to separate from” — and sara — the beginning of salaryman.) First, though, Kohei must do battle with the nasty Mr. Serizawa, a bald ramen shop owner who derides Kohei as “nothing more than a ramen-obsessed fool.” Kohei is often accompanied on visits to other ramen shops by Ms. Sakura, a Daiyu secretary who knows about Kohei’s secret ramen-chef identity.
#3. Cooking Papa （クッキングパパ）
Kazumi, the hulky middle manager of a large import-export firm, has to conceal the fact that he’s a better cook than his wife.
#4. Natsuko’s Sake （夏子の酒）
The daughter of a sake-brewing family, Natsuko dreams of making sake from a handful of rice grains left behind by her deceased older brother. Trouble is, the rice is a legendary strain that can’t be cultivated using pesticides. Natsuko has to convince her village to adopt organic pest-control methods, and she won’t be able to grow enough rice to make sake for several years. The son of a rival brewery falls in love with her, as does her own production chief.
#5. Natsu’s Brewery （奈津の蔵）
This prequel series to Natsuko no Sake centers on Natsuko’s grandmother, Natsu, the first in her family to battle the traditional exclusion of women from sake making.
#6. One Man’s Train Station Bento Journey (駅弁ひとり旅）
Yuko and her husband, Dai, run a bento shop. For their tenth wedding anniversary, Yuko buys Dai a train ticket so he can realize his longtime dream: sampling lunch boxes sold on train station platforms throughout Japan. “It’ll be a nice vacation from me!” says Yuko, seeing him off.
#7. The Ambassador’s Chef （大使閣下の料理人）
Mr. Osawa, a twenty-eight-year-old cook, gets a job at the Japanese embassy in Vietnam, where his deft kitchen skills help the Japanese ambassador overcome various diplomatic crises.
#8. Professor Genmai’s Bento Box (玄米先生の弁当箱）
Professor Genmai, who teaches agricultural studies at a Tokyo college, wants jaded students to get excited about the joys of organic farming and fermentation. In a notable episode, he not only demonstrates exercises for relieving constipation, but also devotes class time to discussing the size and shape of an ideal poop.
#9. Third-Generation Tsukiji Fish Market Man (築地魚河岸三代目)
The human resources manager at a troubled bank, Mr. Akagi is ordered to lay off 100 employees. Unable to deal with the guilt, he lays off 99, and then lays off himself. After struggling to find work, he’s forced to take a menial job at his father-in-law stall at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market. Lacking seafood knowledge, he quickly becomes the object of gossip and ridicule, which strengthens his resolve to learn the ropes.
#10. Oishinbo (美味しんぼ)
Shiro, a young newspaper reporter, is assigned the culinary beat after correctly identifying tap water, well water, and Mt. Tanzawa mineral water in a blind taste test. His arch enemy is his dad, who pens the culinary column for a rival newspaper.
