Also known as Tennō no Ryōriban Written by Yoshiko Morishita Final episode date 12 July 2015 Created by Hisahide Sugimori | First episode date 26 April 2015 Number of episodes 12 | |
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Based on Tennō No Ryōriban (novel, based on the life of Tokuzo Akiyama, the Emperor's cook) Directed by Yuichiro Hirakawa, Shingo Okamoto Starring Takeru SatohHaru KurokiKenta KiritaniTasuku EmotoRyohei SuzukiHideaki ItōHiromi GoKaoru Kobayashi Similar I'm Home, Kite, Dr Rintarō, Hana Moyu, Asa ga Kita |
The Emperor's Cook (Japanese: 天皇の料理番, Hepburn: Tennō no Ryōriban) is a 2015 Japanese television drama based on the novel Tennō no Ryōriban by Hisahide Sugimori, depicting the life of imperial cook Tokuzō Akiyama. It premiered on TBS on 26 April 2015, starring Takeru Satoh in the lead role. The 1st episode is 108 minutes, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th episodes are 64 minutes long. The series was well-received by the public, earning the highest viewership rating in its time slot during its run time.
Contents

Plot

Tokuzō Akiyama is a good-for-nothing young man living in the countryside, who gets easily absorbed in activities he finds interesting, but quickly loses interest and moves on, creating trouble for his family. He is married off to a merchant household to teach him discipline, and his wife gradually grows to love his personality. Tokuzō, however, falls in love again: this time with cooking. As he delivers goods to the army kitchen, the army chef introduces him to cutlet, which prompts Tokuzō to learn the craft. On a whim, he decides to leave his wife to study cooking in Tokyo. Amid hardship and humiliation, the young man who never felt compelled to stick to a job, keeps his dream to become the emperor's cook at only 25 years of age.
Cast

Production

The drama was filmed in various locations in Japan (including Fukushima, Ibaraki, Kobe, Okayama) and in France. Takeru Satoh took cooking classes to portray the character and did the cooking scenes without a stand-in.

