Cooking Papa

Cooking Papa (クッキングパパ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tochi Ueyama. It has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen anthology magazine Morning since June 6, 1985. Kodansha has collected it into individual tankōbon volumes and it has a total of 176 volumes as of January 2026, making it one of the longest manga series by number of volumes. The story revolves around the life of Kazumi Araiwa, a salaryman who can cook well and full recipes for the dishes featured in each chapter are provided at the end of the chapter.[3]

The series has been adapted into a 151-episode anime television series of the same name by Eiken and directed by Toshitaka Tsunoda. The anime series was originally broadcast in Japan on TV Asahi between April 1992 and May 1995,[4][5] A Japanese television drama adaptation aired on Fuji TV on August 29, 2008.[6]

Production

Cooking Papa is written and illustrated by Tochi Ueyama. He was born on February 22, 1954, in Fukuoka City, now Hakata-ku.[8][9][10] Ueyama began drawing manga in elementary school and pursued it as a career by his first year of junior high school.[11] He officially began as a manga artist in the late 1970s. A one-shot manga by Ueyama titled Cooking Boss was published by Akita Shoten in a few issues of Monthly Shōnen Champion in 1982. The story follows Ajitomo Araiwa, a high-schooler who loves to cook.[12] Shortly thereafter he achieved a serialization in Kodansha's weekly anthology Morning with Ōaza Aza Basara Chūzaijo, which centered around a rural police station. Its wholesome and heartwarming slice of life themes set the tone for his next work, Cooking Papa, which was picked up by the same magazine.[13]

Cooking Papa originated as a casual sketch by Ueyama depicting a father cleaning a house while carrying a child on his back. He was asked by the staff at Morning to expand on the concept.[13] In the draft version, the protagonist Kazumi Araiwa's occupation was that of a painter before being changed to a salaryman at the behest of the magazine's editor-in-chief.[9] Kazumi's "gorilla"-like appearance was made to be intentionally ironic as Ueyama believed such a person would be unlikely to have culinary skills.[9][14] The author had himself learned to cook at an early age while home alone with his siblings.[15] Weekly production on Cooking Papa starts with Ueyama preparing a dish and photographing every step for his assistants to illustrate.[15] Meals are concocted and then taste-tested through trial-and-error to perfect each week's recipe.[11]

The manga is set in Hakata on the island of Kyushu where Ueyama lives and works.[15] Known for its acceptance of foreign cuisine due to its proximity to other Asian countries, a number of dishes featured in the series originate from outside Japan.[16][17] Ueyama uses common ingredients found at a local supermarket close to his home, stating he wants anyone to be able to prepare the meals.[15] The longevity of the series has led to some repetition in recipes including 40 to 50 variations of curry rice.[15][18] An original food called onigirazu was depicted in the manga's 22nd volume. This is a modification of traditional Japanese rice balls (onigiri) but is quicker and easier to make.[16]

When Cooking Papa began in 1985, Japanese multimedia rarely depicted men working in the kitchen due to the country's social norms.[16] Launching on the eve of the Japanese economic bubble, this was the same year the country passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, requiring that employers provide the same job opportunities to men and women.[9] The manga's plot alters some of the generally accepted gender roles found in a typical Japanese family.[14] Consequently, Kazumi spends a large portion of the early plot telling his colleagues that his wife Nijiko is responsible for his delicious lunches. It was not until the manga's 51st volume, over a decade into its run, that Kazumi reveals to them his love for cooking.[13][16][21] Despite the timing of the series' debut, Ueyama claimed that he has never had a progressive agenda when writing it in this regard and that he chose the premise because it was interesting.

type	tv series
director	Toshitaka Tsunoda
writer	Hiroyuki Hoshiyama Shun'ichi Yukimuro
music	Toshihiko Sahashi
studio	Eiken (production) Sunshine Corporation (animation)
network	ANN (ABC, TV Asahi)
first	April 9, 1992
last	May 25, 1995
episodes	151

Story

Production

Media

Manga

Volumes

Volumes

Anime

Cast

Cast

See also

External links

References