i. Biography
Masato Nishihara is the chef behind Tsukumo, a Japanese restaurant in Nara’s Kideracho district, which opened near Nara Station in 2015 and later relocated in 2021. A profile on the restaurant’s official site says he was born in 1977 and began his career after high school by seeking work at Kitcho in Kyoto’s Arashiyama district. Independent coverage describes Tsukumo as reflecting Nishihara’s deep love of traditional Japanese culture and notes that he runs the restaurant with Tomoko Nishihara.
