Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily Entertainment GuideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Episode guide
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

The Solitary Gourmet

Original title: Kodoku no gurume
  • TV Series
  • 2012–
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
561
YOUR RATING
The Solitary Gourmet (2012)
Drama

A solitary businessman travels across Japan, eating at its various establishments and experiencing the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.A solitary businessman travels across Japan, eating at its various establishments and experiencing the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.A solitary businessman travels across Japan, eating at its various establishments and experiencing the various delicacies of Japanese cuisine.

  • Creator
    • Masayuki Kusumi
  • Stars
    • Yutaka Matsushige
    • Tomoki Uekusa
    • Atsushi Kashiwagi
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    561
    YOUR RATING
    • Creator
      • Masayuki Kusumi
    • Stars
      • Yutaka Matsushige
      • Tomoki Uekusa
      • Atsushi Kashiwagi
    • 2User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Episodes125

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Photos5

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Yutaka Matsushige
    Yutaka Matsushige
    • Goro Inogashira
    • 2012–2022
    Tomoki Uekusa
    • Narration
    • 2012–2017
    Atsushi Kashiwagi
    • Narration
    • 2013–2017
    Masayuki Kusumi
    • Self
    • 2012–2014
    Rie Tsuiki
    • Patron
    • 2012–2013
    Tetsuharu Konno
    • Father
    • 2012–2013
    Hidekazu Nagae
    • Daisuke
    • 2012
    Ken'ichi Nagira
    • Self…
    • 2012
    Atsuko Anami
    Atsuko Anami
    • Minako
    • 2012
    Eiko Itô
    • 2012
    Arata Saeki
    • 2012
    Réna Kanô
    • 2013–2014
    Masaru Hotta
    • 2013
    Yasuke Kawaharada
    • 2015
    Hiroki Hasegawa
    Hiroki Hasegawa
    • Suzumoto
    • 2012
    Yuki Mamiya
    Yuki Mamiya
    • 2012
    Aki Asakura
    Aki Asakura
    • 2012
    Yoshiyuki Morishita
    Yoshiyuki Morishita
    • 2012
    • Creator
      • Masayuki Kusumi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews2

    8.0561
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    TheMagpieManor

    A Japanese TV series that makes you totally relaxed

    Food, food and more food. There is nothing better to have a great meal when you are depressed or tired. In Japan, food is not just for stuffing your belly, aesthetically speaking, it's also an important element of art in Japanese culture. In this show, not only will you see a lot of traditional Japanese cuisines, but also other dishes from all over the world. You might get bored if you watch too many episodes one after another in one or two days. This TV series needs you to slow down to watch it, three or four episodes for one day and a season for a week would be great. Follow our character and the director of the show to explore the greatest foods in Japan.
    10adamasadamas

    Solitary Gourmet is truly a very unique and charming show that can make anyone watching it feel relaxed.

    Kodoku no Gurume aka Solitary Gourmet is about a traveling businessman who always finds a good place to eat wherever he happens to be to satisfy his hunger.

    When I first heard about the show, I thought to myself "How can a TV show where the main focus is some guy eating be entertaining?". I gave it a chance anyway and wow, I'm glad I did!

    Each episode follows a certain format. At the beginning, Goro is usually seen doing business with his clients or wandering around town. After he finishes talking with the clients or random people, he will suddenly feel the pangs of hunger. The "Three Tones of Hunger" (I just call it that way, you'll understand what I mean when you watch the show) will then play, showing Goro in some kind of state of enlightenment, and then he'll briskly walk and hunt for the best place to eat.

    Each episode features a different real life restaurant in Japan or sometimes a different country when Goro's traveling internationally. Goro will first study the menu of the restaurant before ordering food. We then get to see Goro eat his food. The episode ends when Goro leaves the restaurant feeling satisfied. As an extra, Qusumi, the original author of the manga/comic book that the show is based on, shows up after the end credits and visits the real life restaurant featured in the show. He then orders some food (and of course, alcohol) and then does a mini review of the shop as he happily chugs down his favorite drink.

    The description of how each episode works might sound mundane, but it's in the interactions Goro has with people as well as his inner monologues that give this show a very charming quality. For example, in one episode, Goro might encounter a seemingly tough client who's all business with no heart, but later on, he might bump into this person and then see him being a family man just like everyone else. Goro then realizes that maybe the reason the guy was so uptight was because he's doing his best to make his children happy so he doesn't want to mess business up.

    Aside from random encounters with people, it's also entertaining when Goro listens to the conversations of other customers inside a restaurant. He'll suddenly have an internal monologue of whatever he thinks about other people's situations, often relating them to food.

    The best part is listening to Goro's thoughts as he "attacks" food. Yes, he treats each meal as a battle that he has to win! Each food is a challenge to him! This is where the magic really happens. The way Goro describes the taste of the food he's eating is just so out of this world but somehow still true.

    The actor, Yutaka Matsushige, also manages to give life to the character of Goro in order to make eating a visual treat to watch. You can definitely see him savor the taste of the food. His facial expression changes according to how he feels about the food. His eyebrows rise when he feels very delighted with the taste, it changes into one of determination when the next dish comes, and then his face gets this heavenly look of satisfaction right after finishing a hearty meal. It's something that you can only appreciate by watching this show!

    Aside from that, despite the show's focus on Goro's food adventures, I love the fact that even the random characters he encounters have some kind of background story. These aren't complicated characters as they only appear on screen for a couple of minutes, but the way the show works, you'll understand these characters' lives just by listening to their conversations and watching them interact. Most of the time, these very short encounters or observations by Goro can warm your heart or leave a nice moral lesson. It's simply amazing how that's possible to be done in such a very short amount of time. The writers of the show really did an awesome job!

    Another beautiful thing about the show is the soundtrack! It's very unique. It's like a blend of different genres. There's jazz, there's action packed 70s style funk, there's oriental badass music complete with gongs and chants, there's a sentimental music box piece, and more! The band that played the soundtrack is called The ScreenTones (you can find them on youtube) and the author of Kodoku no Gurume, Qusumi, is part of it!

    All in all, Solitary Gourmet is truly a very unique and charming show that can make anyone watching it feel relaxed. It doesn't have violence in it, there are no complicated stories to worry about, you can jump into the series anytime on any episode and you'll immediately feel right at home. It's really a show that seems to have been made for sharing what it's like to enjoy food in its truest form.

    Give this show a chance, it only takes one episode to make you fall in love with it and you'll want to watch more!

    More like this

    Hanzawa Naoki
    8.4
    Hanzawa Naoki
    Hail the Judge
    7.5
    Hail the Judge
    Towako Omameda and Her Three Ex-husbands
    7.7
    Towako Omameda and Her Three Ex-husbands
    Midnight Diner
    8.6
    Midnight Diner
    Tokyo Love Story
    8.4
    Tokyo Love Story
    Long Vacation
    8.2
    Long Vacation
    Unnatural
    8.1
    Unnatural
    The Solitary Gourmet
    7.3
    The Solitary Gourmet
    Ossan's Love
    7.5
    Ossan's Love
    Sixty Million Dollar Man
    6.2
    Sixty Million Dollar Man
    Flirting Scholar
    7.6
    Flirting Scholar
    Tricky Brains
    7.0
    Tricky Brains

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Based on manga series "Kodoku no Gourmet" written by Masayuki Kusumi and illustrated by Jirô Taniguchi (first published 1994-1996 in "Monthly PANJA" magazine).
    • Connections
      Version of Lonely Gourmet (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      JIRO's Title
      [Opening Theme]

      Music by Masayuki Kusumi

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ18

    • How many seasons does The Solitary Gourmet have?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 4, 2012 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • 孤獨的美食家
    • Production company
      • TV Tokyo
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Solitary Gourmet (2012)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Solitary Gourmet (2012) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit pageAdd episode

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.