Acquiring a deep appreciation of cooking at the age of nine, Yoshimi Tanigawa was convinced that cooking was his mission in life. Later, he came to Kyoto and studied traditional Japanese cultural arts such as ‘tea ceremony,’ ‘flower arrangement,’ ‘incense ceremony,’ ‘calligraphy,’ ‘Japanese poetry,’ etc., in order to polish his sensitivity and acquire inspiration for his profession.

Besides mastering the traditional court-style cuisine (yusoku-ryori; cuisine prepared according to the rules and traditions of the ancient court) and its methods of using cutlery (ikama-ryu), he has continued to explore new fields of cuisine, such as a special curative diet catered to those suffering from diabetes. He is making every effort to promote the essence of real Kyoto-style cuisine, especially to people abroad. Furthermore, by always remembering the spirit of ‘discovering new things by studying the past,’ he is doing his best endeavors to cultivate his own style of cooking.

He took part in the popular TV program ‘Ryori-no-tetsujin (the battle of the master chefs)’ broadcasted in July 1999, and defeated Masaharu Morimoto, another master chef in Japanese cuisine. The theme of the contest was ‘conger eel’, and his dexterity in preparing the dish won the admiration of all the judges.