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Sea cucumber roe paste, orchid-flower garnish, cuttlefish dressed with sansho-leaf miso, clam and tender bamboo-shoot inner sheath in a misty jelly, halfbeak grilled with bottarga, small egg-filled octopus, rapeseed blossoms

An appetizer course. This is a five-item plate built around the three great delicacies — sea urchin, karasumi, and salted sea cucumber intestines…

Soybean pulp salad, mountain yam somen, ark shell simmered with strawberry, spring cabbage with fish milt cream, mugwort-and-whitefish mixture, marinated

The shiitake mushroom accompanying the okara salad develops more umami once it has been frozen. For the akagai simmered with strawberry — since I'm…

Lily bulb steamed bun, halfbeak chrysanthemum sushi, chrysanthemum-carved turnip, tubular chrysanthemum cheese, eel baked in pastry

In place of a standard appetizer course, I made everything in a single chrysanthemum theme, with every dish styled to resemble a chrysanthemum. For…

Mochi ginkgo, shimeji and duck jibu-ni, manganji pepper stuffing, turban shell liver salad, and more

The mochi ginkgo is made by cooking ginkgo nuts through, pressing them through a fine sieve, mixing them with glutinous rice flour, steaming, and…

Sweet potato simmered with sugar, Kyoto-style, duck pickled in kyo-koji, hairy crab hermit-crab-style with gelatin vinegar, and more

For the duck kyo-koji pickle, the fatty side of the duck is first seared to render off some fat, then steeped overnight in kyo-koji. The duck is then…

Shuto-cured dried conger eel, splendid alfonsino in chilled aspic, octopus rolled with sprouts, and more

For the upside-down egg cured in Saikyo white miso, the contents are removed from the egg, only the yolk is put back in and steamed, then the egg…

Seared-and-chilled chicken tenderloin set with plum paste, white liver pâté with Melba toast, salmon and kombu-cured sushi, konjac simmered Rikyu-style with sesame, paprika and prosciutto-cheese terrine

Two-Color Dumplings with Sesame

For the two-color dumplings with sesame, the kabocha squash and green peas are each steamed and pressed through a fine sieve; we mix in rice flour —…

Pine cone abalone, daisen-ni; molded sea cucumber; honeycomb tripe, Yamato style; rein-pattern sushi; plum-blossom lily bulb; green-fleshed daikon and bottarga

For the celebratory course's pine cone abalone daisen-ni, I score a small abalone into a pine-cone pattern, then rehydrate it for about six hours in…

Softshell turtle soba-gaki, vinegar-simmered turtle, deep-fried turtle, egg-thickened turtle

This is a variety of softshell turtle dishes — maru for short. This time I use two kinds of softshell turtle: one simmered for an hour and a half to…

Making Vegetables Delicious

Since vegan cooking can only use vegetables, and that leaves the flavor feeling somewhat lacking, I thought about whether I could perfect it starting…

• Serves 4 · ¥1,208

• Cook time 20 min

Fugu milt steamed in a yuzu shell, herring roe sprout roll, monkfish liver mousse

This is the appetizer course. For the fugu milt steamed in a yuzu shell, meringue and milt are combined and lightly salted. Into this we mix chia…

Amber aspic, cherry-blossom daikon and bottarga sandwich, fat greenling grilled with plum paste

First, this is the appetizer course. To prepare the amber aspic, the small-diced foie gras is soaked in milk for several hours to remove any off-odor…

Cherry-blossom bamboo shoot with naruto-rolled wakame, simmered octopus, long Japanese parsley and icefish rolls, and more

For the cherry-blossom-shaped bamboo shoot with Naruto-rolled wakame, I prepared bamboo shoots shaped and colored like cherry blossoms, alongside…

Bamboo celtuce egg-yolk sushi, monkfish liver in aspic, sea bream ball, and more

Let me start by explaining the appetizer course. For the bamboo celtuce kimi-zushi: the celtuce stem was not yet in season (this event was held on…

Kombu-cured flounder Hakata, bottarga and daikon Hakata, herring roe in snow, miso-marinated abalone, clam and turnip sushi, lily bulb monaka

These are the appetizers, but before the dishes themselves, let me say a word about the tableware. Last year Chūson-ji Konjiki-dō in Hiraizumi, Iwate…

Nikogori on a Lotus Leaf, Lily Bulb, Steamed Abalone Grilled with Uni, Skewered on Green Bamboo, Turban Shell Liver Somen

Because I worked for a long time at a hotel, I learned how to prepare foie gras directly from the Western-cuisine chefs. Season the foie gras with…

Japanese flounder rolled with rapeseed blossoms, pond smelt grilled with sansho leaf, shrimp plum-blossom sushi, bracken fern shoots and lotus root, and lotus root three-flavor deep-fry

Monkfish liver wrapped in thin daikon, oysters with grated daikon dressing, persimmon with tofu dressing, herring roe on kelp, egg-yolk sushi in a rope-pattern roll

For the appetizers, each dish was plated in its own small cup (mamechoko). I think there's also something enjoyable about the idea of guests picking…

Sponge-cake fish dumpling, small sea bream and matsutake rein-twist sushi, chrysanthemum daikon roll, udo-peel kinpira bundle

For the appetizer's kasutera shinjo, raisins are reconstituted in wine beforehand so their color doesn't fade. The ingredients are combined, poured…

Grilled pine mushroom and chicken tenderloin chrysanthemum salad

As for the grilled matsutake and chicken tenderloin dressed with chrysanthemum: when matsutake is served blanched and dashi-marinated, I always grill…

Small sardines, simmered, dried, and roasted

From the theme of heritage dishes, this is "small sardines, simmered and dried." For the sardines, simply remove the heads, guts, and tails, then…

• Serves 1 · ¥52

• Cook time 5 hr

Chrysanthemum-Steeped Grilled Matsutake, Autumn Nut Cream Terrine, Seared Kamasu Sushi

This is a starter course. For the chrysanthemum-steeped grilled matsutake, edible chrysanthemum petals are soaked in alum water to set their color…

Halfbeak pressed sushi wrapped in cherry leaf, shrimp in rice-porridge marinade with cheese, kumquat-egg deep-fried in a scouring-rush style, turnip and prosciutto roll, two-color pouch twisted in cloth, bottarga daikon, and amber-glazed ginger on a pine-needle skewer

An appetizer course. For the karasumi daikon, to draw out more of the karasumi's blood, the daikon is pierced all over with fine needles, then a hose…