Highlights
- Sōma and Jōichirō Yukihira share a deep love for food and each other, showcased through their competitive culinary challenges at their family diner.
- Jōichirō’s mysterious past at the prestigious Tōtsuki Academy as a prodigy chef sheds light on his laid-back demeanor and impressive culinary skills.
- Jōichirō’s mentorship extends to a second apprentice, Asahi Saiba, whose jealousy and ambition set the stage for a culinary showdown at Tōtsuki Academy.
Episode one of Food Wars! gave us the perfect introduction to the Yukihira family: main man Sōma having a cook off with his father Jōichirō in their family diner. The pair are very close, have a great love for food and each other, and are always flexing their creative culinary muscles in the kitchen. One day, however, Sōma ‘s dad disappeared mysteriously and told his son that he has been enrolled at Tōtsuki Academy, a prestigious culinary school that prepares the next generation of chefs, entrepreneurs and business-owners. While we focused on Sōma being a fish out of water at this new environment that is so different from the free cooking style he implements in his diner, we forget that Joichiro is the source of his skills.
Who is Jōichirō Saiba?
Jōichirō is Sōma’s beloved father. The two have a very close, competitive and passionate relationship all centered on food. They run the family diner “Restaurant Yukihira” together and have developed an inviting and wholesome atmosphere at their establishment. The constant cooking challenges between the two are somewhat of an unofficial tradition in the diner, and yet it speaks to the precise nature of this father-son relationship. He is fun-loving, passionate and a mentor to Sōma. His love for food is definitely genetic, as evident in his son.
Sadly, Sōma’s mother died from an illness and Jōichirō was widowed when Sōma was twelve years old. To cheer up his grieving father, young Sōma did the one thing that made all three of them happy: having food wars. He challenged him to a food war and the pair used their love for food to get through this difficult time. Till this day, food brings them together.
Jōichirō kept a lot of his past a secret from his son, fearing that he would turn out the same way. He has been on many adventures and made some interesting life decisions going back to before Sōma was even born.
Cooking School Dropout
Surprisingly, Jōichirō was a former student of Tōtsuki Academy. Knowing what we know about the laid-back diner-style cuisine of “Restaurant Yukihira”, it is odd that a former attendee of such a prestigious fine-dining institution now runs a diner. Even Sōma was surprised to learn about his father.
Jōichirō was a cooking prodigy, passing almost every task and test with ease. His talent landed him a spot in the Polar Star dormitory, a place known for housing the school’s finest chefs. Sōma managed to earn his room here, unknowing of the fact that a generation before him here included his own father.
He gained a reputation as a fierce chef; cool, collected, with heaps of talent. He won 101 out of 121 food wars with his friend Gin Dōjima, who, as an adult, now is now the Head Chef at Tōtsuki Resort and is on the Board of Directors here. The pair became good friends and better rivals, both making it to the final round of the Autumn Selection competition. Their friendly competition landed them both a spot on the illustrious Tōtsuki Council of Ten, with Gin taking the sixth seat and Jōichirō the seventh. Outraged that Jōichirō was invited to the famous BLUE cooking competition, he initiated a Régiment de Cuisine, a food war against all the upperclassmen that doubted his invitation to the BLUE. He won on pure talent and skill that rattled and amazed his competitors. Eventually, he moved up the ranking of the Council to the second seat.
Even as a teenager, Jōichirō was very laid back. He never took school that seriously, as well as the responsibilities of a seat on the Council. Additionally, he obliterated countless opponents in food wars. With the upcoming BLUE competition, Jōichirō began to slowly show signs of burnout. His success at school and the consequent pressure of his BLUE performance was overwhelming, and it showed. The attention and exhaustion was too much for Jōichirō, and he missed the BLUE altogether. The principal of Tōtsuki, Senzaemon Nakiri (Erina’s grandfather), noticed Jōichirō’s struggle and advised him to leave the academy and find himself in the real world outside of Japan. Jōichirō heeded this advice and promptly dropped out of the elite Tōtsuki Academy.
Jōichirō finds his passion
As advised by Senzaemon, Jōichirō left Japan to find his dream. He mostly traveled around the globe learning about various native ingredients and cooking techniques, cooking in a number of kitchens as he did so. It was evident in his time at Tōtsuki that he possessed a raw talent in the kitchen and, as a result, his skills as a chef became literally world-famous. The reputation and experience is great, but Jōichirō still felt like he hadn’t found his dream yet.
Eventually, he returned home to Japan and stumbled across a small diner, “Restaurant Yukihira”. He ordered the Chef’s Special there and was absolutely repulsed by it. The chef who prepared it was none other than Tamako Yukihira, the owner’s daughter and who would later be Jōichirō’s wife. He was offered a job at this diner, where he and Tamako grew close. Despite not being an uber-talented chef, he was inspired by her genuine love for making her customers happy through the diner’s food. This was the passion that Jōichirō’s was traveling the world to find, and it was right at home the whole time. He and Tamako married when he was 23 years old. He took her last name and soon after they had a son, Sōma.
Jōichirō improved the menu at the diner, using the combination of his world knowledge and cooking talent. He still continued to travel and do business with many international clients, but he always came home to his family.
Asahi – Jōichirō’s second apprentice
Unbeknownst to Sōma, he was not his father’s only culinary apprentice. At a charity event in the United States, Jōichirō cooked for an orphanage. Here he met a child named Asahi, a seven-year-old boy who had an aptitude for cooking. Jōichirō took it upon himself to teach this child how to cook. In fact, every time he visited the USA, he would make the time to visit Asahi and further his cooking education. He ultimately took on the last name Saiba, same as Jōichirō’s, for he saw the child as akin to his child.
Unfortunately, when Tamako passed away, Jōichirō stopped traveling altogether to focus on raising Sōma and processing his grief. This sparked jealousy in now fifteen-year-old Asahi, for he wished he could be Jōichirō’s son. Wielding a kitchen knife Jōichirō left him, Asahi rose up as an underground chef armed with Jōichirō’s fine teachings. He ultimately made his way to Tōtsuki Academy to challenge Erina Nakiri’s leadership of the school.
Erina Nakiri’s secret motivation
Jōichirō has a reputation for leaving quite memorable impressions, whether it be on classmates or important culinary food giants across the globe. It turns out he left such an impression on a young Erina Nakiri, as well.
Senzaemon and Jōichirō had a meeting at the Nakiri home when Erina was a little girl. She was told to go up to her room while the adults spoke, but her stomach growled. Seeing that she was hungry, Jōichirō kindly made her something to eat. From the first bite, Erina became enthralled by the skill and by the demeanor of Jōichirō. Erina also possesses the God Tongue, so she knows exactly what an amazing dish is supposed to taste like. She became inspired to cook and asked Jōichirō if he would ever sample one of her dishes one day. He told her to become a great chef first, then he would.
Erina became determined to achieve this goal, for this will be a personal hallmark for her as a chef. She even kept a table open every day at her restaurant during the Moon Banquet Festival if the possibility ever arose that he would walk in. She keeps a photograph of him and her as a child close to her as a personal reminder of her cooking idol. It is hilarious that Jōichirō is Erina’s role model as a chef, because up till now, his son Sōma, was her main rival at school.
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