Kitchen Stadium

Iron Chef (料理の鉄人)
The seven Iron Chefs and Chairman Kaga in Kitchen Stadium. Left to right: Sakai, Ishinabe, Morimoto, Michiba, Chen, Nakamura, Kobe
Genre	Cooking show
Directed by	Keiichi Tanaka Takeshi Umakoshi Akio Ichijima
Presented by	Takeshi Kaga Kenji Fukui Yukio Hattori
Narrated by	Shinichirō Ōta
Theme music composer	Hans Zimmer from Backdraft
Composer(s)	David Arnold Bruce Broughton Aaron Copland Randy Edelman Cliff Eidelman Jerry Goldsmith James Horner Yoko Kanno Dennis McCarthy Joel McNeely Graeme Revell Toshihiko Sahashi Andrew Lloyd Webber Shōji Yamashiro Hans Zimmer
Country of origin	Japan
Original language(s)	Japanese
No. of episodes	309 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Osamu Kanemitsu Kenichi Koga Toshihiko Matsuo
Editor(s)	Takashi Ishihara
Release
Original network	Fuji Television
Original release	October 10, 1993 – September 24, 1999 + specials 2000-2002

Iron Chef (料理の鉄人, Ryōri no Tetsujin^?, literally "Ironmen of Cooking") is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although occasional specials were produced until 2002. The series aired 309 episodes. Repeats are regularly aired on the Food Network in Canada, the Cooking Channel in the United States and on Special Broadcasting Service in Australia. Fuji TV aired a new version of the show, titled Iron Chef (アイアンシェフ, Aian Shefu^?), starting on October 26, 2012.

The host of the show is the flamboyant Takeshi Kaga, known on the show as Chairman Kaga (鹿賀主宰, Kaga Shusai^?). He begins most episodes with his signature words, taken from Arthur Rimbaud, "If memory serves me right...「私の記憶が確かならば…」"(Jadis) si je me souviens bien..." and summons the Iron Chefs to cook with the phrase "Allez cuisine!" ("Go cook!"). The show has two regular commentators, Kenji Fukui who narrates the action on the floor, and Dr. Yukio Hattori, a food scholar and founder of the Hattori Nutrition College. A floor reporter, Shinichiro Ohta, reports to Fukui on what the challengers and Iron Chefs are preparing, their strategy, and their comments, breaking Fukui's train of commentary with a polite "Fukui-san?". One or two guest commentators (who also serve as judges) also make frequent appearances. The commentary covers ingredients, history of contenders, and other background information to give viewers context for what is happening in the kitchen.