This is the list of episodes for the Japanese cooking television series Ryōri no Tetsujin, known among English-speaking audiences as Iron Chef, produced by Fuji Television. The series is a cooking competition in which a challenger chef "battles" one of the resident "Iron Chefs" by cooking at least one dish in a one-hour time slot based on a theme ingredient.
Contents
Not included in the lists below are special two "Legend of" episodes, one about Rokusaburo Michiba, the other about Chen Kenichi and Hiroyuki Sakai. Both special episodes are made exclusively for the English-speaking audiences, especially "Iron Chef fans in the States".
For consistency, all Japanese names are in Western order, macroned with Hepburn romanization. All other Asian names, on the other hand, are in Eastern order. Also, for each of the non-Japanese Asian challengers, as much as possible, the name used is the romanization used by either the English-dubbed version of the show or any English language publication or website. Otherwise, the romanization used for the Chinese names is derived from the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation and Pinyin romanization of the name (the episode involving the only Korean to compete in the show has already been dubbed in English).
All Asian challengers, except those with Wikipedia articles, will have their names in kanji in parentheses upon first mention in the list. For the non-Japanese Asian challengers, the Japanese pronunciation of the name as used in the show (or at least the name used by Chairman Kaga, if subtitled without voiceovers, in the English-dubbed versions) is also included.
In the case of Asians with mixed Chinese-Japanese heritage, such as Chen Kenichi, they follow the same criteria as the Chinese names (i.e. Eastern order and Japanese pronunciation guide beside kanji).
1993
All episodes from this year are half an hour long, as opposed to at least an hour in the following years.
^1 This is the first battle featuring a foreign challenger.
^2 This is the first battle in which a challenger won against the Iron Chef.
1994
The last episode of 1994 covers the first half of the 1994 Mr. Iron Chef competition featuring winning challengers from previous episodes. The winner faced off against an Iron Chef.
1995
The last episode of 1995 covered the first half of 1995 Mr. Iron Chef competition. The winner would battle Michiba, who was about to retire as a regular Iron Chef.
1996
The first episode of 1996 covered the second half of 1995 Mr. Iron Chef competition. This would be Michiba's last battle as a regular Iron Chef.
The last episode of 1996 is the New Year's Eve episode wherein 100 judges were said to have sampled the New Year food prepared by the two Iron Chefs, which took 100 minutes and 10 assistants to make.
Specials notes
The Millennium Cup, occurring three months after the last regular battle, introduced two "new" Iron Chefs in the persons of Yūji Wakiya and Seigo Mitani as successors to Iron Chefs Sakai and Chen. Both actually never battled since their introduction. And while there were two battles, all four chefs involved were competing to have one of their dishes be declared as the "Millennium Dish." Although Bouchet lost his battle with Michiba, his beef main course was declared the "Millennium Dish."
The first part of the New York Special saw Iron Chefs Morimoto, Sakai, Kobe and Honorary Iron Chef Michiba visit the city. During the Iron Chefs' visit to the Zagat weekend home, Tim and Nina Zagat had arranged a battle between Morimoto and Flay. Also included in the first part were Kobe and Sakai's visit to an Asian cooking class in the Culinary Institute of America and Morimoto and Michiba's guesting in an episode of Doorknock Dinners. Gordon Elliot, the host of that show, would also serve as the English-speaking host for Flay and Morimoto's battle in the second half of the special alongside Kaga.
The 21st Century Battles were held, especially held to usher in the beginning of the 21st century, brought back two previous challengers. The first was prolific guest Toshirō Kandagawa, who shaved himself bald to atone for his antagonistic role in the past. The second, Bobby Flay, was brought back to fulfill a clamor for a rematch against Morimoto as according to several reports, Flay did not take his loss very well, even complaining about the treatment against him in that battle (the show even cited in a Time magazine article to bring home the point).
In the events that led to the Japan Cup, Chairman Kaga (the character) had died due to puffer fish liver poisoning. A memorial service was held before the new chairman, Kaga's equally flamboyant nephew, played by actor Masahiro Motoki, was introduced. The Japan Cup, launched to keep the tradition of Kitchen Stadium alive, was held at the Tokyo Dome. Chen was chosen to represent Chinese cuisine while the selection of representatives for French, Italian, and Japanese cuisines was opened to "unknown nameless chefs." There were only two battles that were covered in full: Chen's semifinal battle and finals between Chen and Nonaga; only highlights of Nonaga's semifinal battle were shown due to time constraints. Takeshi Kaga was still alive at the time of the Japan Cup (and still is as of 2012, according to IMDB); his character was killed off due to commitments he was having at the time, thus preventing him from reprising his role. It should be noted, however, that the story element of the "death" of Kaga's character was ignored in Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters, as according to that show's storyline, it was Chairman Kaga himself who sent Sakai and Morimoto to America to grace the opening a new Gourmet Academy there.
2012 and beyond: Revival series
On October 26, 2012, Fuji TV revived the original Iron Chef franchise, this time simply using the English name Iron Chef (アイアンシェフ). Actor Hiroshi Tamaki assumed the role as the new Chairman in this revival. For the line-up of Iron Chefs, Yuji Wakiya became the official Iron Chef Chinese, while Yōsuke Suga was selected as the new Iron Chef French instead of Seigo Mitani; Jun Kurogi was chosen as the new Iron Chef Japanese. Yukio Hattori would reprise his role as commentor, guided by a set of culinary experts.