Top Chef’s New Chapter At Unique Ryokan In Japan

When you have reached a major goal, what do you do?

In the case of chef Yoshinori Ishii, who earned two Michelin stars at Umu in London, he decided to go back to his roots.

“I had been cooking Japanese food outside of Japan for more than two decades. Over time, I grew to realize that I needed to understand Japan at a deeper level. Also, a lot of things have happened in Japan in the last 20 years. I had to update my idea of Japan so that I could serve the most genuine, quintessential Japanese dishes to my guests,” says Ishii.

In 2020, after the successful 10 years at Umu, he left the restaurant to start a new project: Auberge Tokito.

Auberge Tokito, which opened in April 2024, is an elegant Ryokan (Japanese-style restaurant with lodging facilities) in Tachikawa City on the outskirts of central Tokyo.

At Tokito, there are only four rooms designed by the celebrated architect Shinichiro Ogata. The hot spring, or Onsen, was freshly dug from 4,200 feet underground during the construction. Guests can enjoy a free-flowing, open-air Onsen in their room privately. Also, each room has a designated spa treatment space. There is a bar and tea room and of course, a restaurant that represents the concept of Tokito.

Serving Japanese Cuisine That No One Has Ever Cooked Before

Ishii and his culinary team aim to serve “Japanese cuisine that no one has ever cooked before.”

What does that mean?

Before going abroad, Ishii was classically trained and served as a sous chef at one of the top authentic Kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto called Arashiyama Kiccho.

“The experience at Kiccho is the foundation of how I think of cooking. Still, as much as I appreciate the value of tradition, I am frustrated by its slow speed of change. In order to stay valuable, tradition needs to evolve in response to what is happening in its environment,” he says.

“French cuisine in Paris has transformed quite dramatically and successfully in the last several decades, for instance. Japanese cuisine doesn’t have to change fast, but we should not resist or hesitate to evolve.”

A good example of Ishii’s innovative actions is the development of Ujio. It is a condiment that can effectively substitute soy sauce, the most essential Japanese condiment.

“Soy sauce is difficult to use the right amount. A little too much can easily ruin the flavor of ingredients. My answer is slightly viscous Ujio, made simply with the highest quality, umami-rich Rausu Kombu from Hokkaido and salt,” he says.

Ishii is not only pursuing new ideas though. He also goes back in time.

“I have been thinking about what is at the core of Japanese food. My anchoring point has become its ultimate origin—how people ate 10,000 years ago during the Japanese Stone Age, Jomon period,” he says.

“It was before any foreign influence arrived in the country. More importantly, people cooked whatever was available and tried to make the most of each bite for survival and nutrition. And perhaps, they tried to make it a little delectable in some ways.“

That is why Ishii and his team source ingredients from sustainable fishermen, farmers and hunters who understand nature’s honest expression of taste and flavors. They also proactively utilize products that would have been discarded for being off-grade or difficult to use.

Guests can find original dishes like sashimi of red snapper from the Sado Island served with Ujio and local wasabi; first-in-the-season Kamo eggplant from Kyoto served with toasted tuna flakes; prized Nodoguro fish sushi served on rice cooked with ginger and balsamic vinegar.

Food is served on the exquisite plates and bowls handcrafted by Ishii. “I have always enjoyed making things by hand since I was little. I started making pottery when I was in London and it has become an important source of creativity.” He has a pottery studio within Tokito and he offers pottery classes to guests on request.

Succeeding The Legacy Of The 80-Year-Old Restaurant

Tokito is located in Tachikawa, which takes about an hour by train from central Tokyo. Initially, Ishii found it an obstacle to success, but the location has become a part of his life mission.

Before Ishii joined, the Tokito project was already set up by the local enterprise Tachihi Holdings whose history goes back to 1924 as an airplane manufacturer.

“Before Tokito was built, there was a beloved local Japanese restaurant called Mumon An. During World War II, young Kamikaze pilots spent the last night at Mumon An and the next morning they flew away on the airplanes our company manufactured with one-way fuel,” says Tachihi’s president Masamichi Murayama.

When the 80-year-old Mumon An faced financial difficulty, the owner of the restaurant approached Murayama, hoping that he would understand the importance of Mumon An’s legacy. Murayama decided to take it over.

“I regard this project as social capital,” he says. “We need to pass the precious page of Japanese history on to the future generations.”

Ishii resonated with this idea profoundly.

Ishii is now managing Tokito as the producer, leaving the primary responsibility of the executive chef to Kenji Okawara, who has been Tokito’s general manager and an accomplished chef himself with a Michelin star in Kyoto.

Ishii says, “My mission is not only to make Tokito a special place and reason to visit Tachikawa, but to create the future of Tachikawa and the surrounding Tama area with the power of sustainable food and hospitality.”

Ishii and his team’s path to opening Tokito for 540 days has been beautifully depicted in the documentary Tokito . The film has been featured in the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Warsaw Film Festival and also shown on Apple TV.

“One day, I want to go back to cooking abroad and open my restaurant. I don’t know where it will be, but I have already been training young chefs in Japan. We will introduce the true essence of Japanese cuisine to the world,” says Ishii.