His journey leads him to the history of Chef Naotaro Yamagata (Hidetoshi Nishijima), who was commissioned by the Japanese army in occupied Manchuria to create a menu that would rival the "Manchu Han Imperial Feast".
(2017) is a celebrated Japanese drama directed by Yojiro Takita, the Academy Award-winning director of Departures . Based on the novel Kirin no Shita wo Motsu Otoko by Keiichi Tanaka, the film is a sweeping epic that blends culinary art with historical mystery and family legacy. Plot Overview: A Search for the "Qilin Tongue"
The film is widely praised for its emotional depth and "foodie fetishism". It contrasts the 1930s wartime melodrama with a modern-day procedural, exploring how food can serve as a vessel for memory and reconciliation.
The Last Recipe (2017) directed by Yojiro Takita - Letterboxd
Facing debt after his restaurant fails, Sasaki accepts a lucrative but mysterious request: to locate and recreate a lost 112-course imperial feast created in the 1930s.