i. Biography
In Ginza, Tokyo, yakitori is treated as a narrow form with little room for disguise: chicken, salt, charcoal, heat. At BIRD LAND, Executive Chef Toshihiro Wada works with free-range Okukuji Shamo from Ibaraki, cutting meat and offal into morsels and cooking them over superhot binchotan. The seasoning register stays tight. Sea salt, soy sauce, wasabi, yuzu and sansho pepper are used to sharpen the bird’s character, not cover it. The work depends on the exchange between flame and ingredient, without gaudy sauces or embellishment.
Coming Up
A long yakitori practice builds authority through repetition: the same material, the same fire, the same judgment tested service after service. Since 1987, Toshihiro Wada has been founder, owner and chef of Birdland, shaping the restaurant around the elemental tools of the form and returning to them with consistency. Yakitori, handled as disciplined practice rather than casual format, asks for decisions that are small and consequential. As Executive Chef of BIRD LAND, Wada’s work turns on the size of the cut, the placement over charcoal, the moment to season and the instant to remove the skewer from the heat. The plate can read simply; the control behind it is accumulated through years of repetition and attention.
Where They Are Now
Birdland in Tokyo remains tied to the role Toshihiro Wada began in 1987: founder, owner and chef. He is also Executive Chef at BIRD LAND in Ginza, Tokyo, where the restaurant’s identity continues to center on yakitori made from premium Okukuji Shamo chicken. The grill work stays tactile and exacting. Morsels of meat and offal are cooked over binchotan, a style of smokeless charcoal whose intensity requires focus and speed. Sea salt, soy sauce, wasabi, yuzu and sansho pepper can appear, each used to frame the chicken rather than overwhelm it. Serving every part of the chicken as yakitori, including heart, gives range to the menu while keeping the craft inside a single bird. That range is technical as much as culinary: texture, richness, savor and perfume are drawn from one ingredient and its many parts. In Ginza, Tokyo, Wada’s cooking remains grounded in premium chicken, exact heat, minimal seasoning and a refusal to obscure what the grill has made clear.
Career - Founder, owner and chef — Birdland, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan (1987–present) - Executive Chef — BIRD LAND, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
Signature
Chicken liver pâté, Oyakodon, and Chicken heart yakitori mark three registers of the same chicken-centered practice: richness, comfort and precision. In Toshihiro Wada’s hands, each named signature stays anchored in the bird and in the disciplined sensibility of the grill.
Standing
Recognition for the work includes Michelin Plate (2025) and Michelin star (2010) for Toshihiro Wada.
FAQ What is Toshihiro Wada's current position? Toshihiro Wada is Executive Chef. What recognition has Toshihiro Wada received? Michelin Plate (2025). What is Toshihiro Wada known for? Yakitori, especially grilled chicken skewers made from premium Okukuji Shamo chicken.
