Oishinbo

Oishinbo is one of the most famous food stories ever made in Japan. The name roughly means a person who loves good food. It began as a manga written by Tetsu Kariya and drawn by Akira Hanasaki. It ran in Shogakukan's magazine Big Comic Spirits from October 1983 until May 2014, when it went on a long break. The series has 111 volumes and more than 135 million copies sold, which makes it one of the best-selling manga of all time. In English, Viz Media released collections from January 2009, each one focused on a theme, such as a type of food, instead of following the original order.

This entry is the TV anime. Shin-Ei Animation made it, and it aired 136 episodes on Nippon Television from October 1988 to March 1992. Two TV film specials followed after the series ended.

The story takes place at the Tozai News, a big newspaper company in Tokyo. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the paper starts a special project called the Ultimate Menu. The goal is to create a perfect menu that shows the best of Japanese food. Shiro Yamaoka, a reporter at the paper, is chosen to lead it. At work, Yamaoka looks lazy and often does not seem to care about anything. But he has an amazing sense of taste and a deep knowledge of food and cooking. He is joined by Yuko Kurita, a new reporter who is kind, smart, and hardworking. She becomes his partner on the project.

The biggest source of drama is Yamaoka's father, Yuzan Kaibara. He is a famous artist and a great food expert, and he is very strict and proud. Yamaoka and his father have a bitter relationship and have not gotten along for years. When a rival newspaper starts its own project, the Supreme Menu, Kaibara leads it. From then on, father and son often face each other in food contests, each trying to prove whose taste is better.

Most episodes are about one kind of food or one food problem. Characters argue about how to make the best sushi, rice, tofu, or soup. The show explains where ingredients come from, how chefs work, and why quality matters. It often speaks out against fake or low-quality food and shortcuts in cooking. This makes it part drama and part food education. You may learn a lot about Japanese cooking just by watching.

The show is calm and made for adults, with work life, family tension, and a slow romance between the two reporters. It is a classic that influenced many later food anime and manga. A new TV series, Shin Oishinbo, was announced in September 2026 for 2027.