About Akimitsu

Chef Akimitsu Tanihara the founder of Shitamachi Tendon Akimitsu which is Tendon/Tempura restaurant located in Asakusa, Japan. The restaurant has a long history of making donburi—a rice bowl topped with seasoned vegetables or seafood—and chef Akimitsu Tanihara has extensive techniques and experience making tempura and tendon. He has mastered making traditional tendon—or tempura donburi—in bold and artistic ways.

Chef Akimitsu Tanihara is always researching ways to enhance the texture and flavour of his tempura by testing cooking temperatures and frying times for different ingredients, tweaking the ratio of the coating to frying oil, or varying the combinations of premium seasonal ingredients. He believes there are no limits when it comes to transforming foods into tasty tempura, and makes his own special in-house tendon sauce that brings additional flavour and harmony to tempura and rice.

In 2014, this profound knowledge and experience finally earned Shitamachi Tendon Akimitsu the highest recognition for tempura cuisine—the "King of Tempura Bowl" gold award—in Japan’s donburi championship. From 2014-2018, the restaurant has won the 5th “All Japan Donbury Gold Medal” five consecutive times.