Portrait of Mamoru Oshima
i. Biography
Mamoru Oshima cooks wild game at Matagi in Tokyo, where the work is built on a fixed idea: use unfarmed ingredients, handle them with discipline, and let the character of the source stay visible on the plate. The restaurant began as the original Matagi in Hayama in 2007 before moving to Tokyo, carrying forward a way of cooking shaped by mountain, sea, and hunt.
The Climb
Early work as a kaiseki chef gave Mamoru Oshima a grounding in seasonal timing, precision, and restraint. That training still reads in the structure of the food: balanced rather than decorative, measured rather than crowded, with each ingredient left room to register on its own terms. The result is cooking that depends on control, not excess. Today, he is chef of Matagi, a role he has held since 2007. That long tenure defines the kitchen’s identity. It is a practice organized around purpose, with instinct and memory working alongside a settled command of wild ingredients.
Today
At Matagi, the menu remains entirely unfarmed, and that choice determines the restaurant’s pace and point of view. Oshima sources meat directly through his own hunting routes, then brings in wild-caught fish from Sajima Port every morning. The system is exacting, and it keeps the kitchen tied to what is available that day. The method gives the food a directness that is uncommon even within seasonal cooking. Ingredients are not just selected; they are pursued, gathered, and prepared with an emphasis on their raw identity. On the plate, Matagi reads like a record of land and water rather than a conventional menu.
Career - chef, Matagi, Tokyo (2007–present) - kaiseki chef
Signature
Mamoru's signature dishes include Inoshishi-Kuma Nabe. Built from wild boar and bear, the dish reflects the restaurant’s wild-game framework in its most concentrated form. It is a hot pot defined by weight, warmth, and a clear reliance on the character of the meat rather than garnish or surface effect.
Recognition
The signature dish is Inoshishi-Kuma Nabe, a hot pot of wild boar and bear described as among the most soulful nabe in Tokyo. As it cooks, the broth grows fuller and darker, taking on a complexity that seems to accumulate slowly, patiently, from the ingredients themselves. The meal concludes with zousui rice porridge, which draws the remaining broth into a final, comforting expression and leaves the dish with a sense of completeness that feels both rustic and refined.
FAQ What is Mamoru Oshima's current role? Mamoru Oshima is Chef. What is Mamoru Oshima known for? Wild game cuisine.
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