On behalf of my native Japan, I am grateful to the culinary community and hospitality industry for working together to raise much-needed funds to aid the tsunami and earthquake victims.

Culture and tradition have to change little by little. So 'new' means a little twist, a marriage of Japanese technique with French ingredients. My technique. Indian food, Korean food; I put Italian mozzarella cheese with sashimi. I don't think 'new new new.' I'm not a genius. A little twist.

A lot of people call me a celebrity chef, but I don't think that I'm a celebrity. So I want to stay keeping just a chef. That's more comfortable.

Because I'm a chef, I eat out frequently, so it's hard for me to control what I consume in terms of calories. But when I'm at home, I eat what my wife cooks for me. She works hard to avoid making foods that are high in calories and cholesterol, so most of the time, she makes vegetarian dishes.

Ramen is a dish that's very high in calories and sodium. One way to make it slightly healthier is to leave the soup and just eat the noodles.

Japanese chefs believe our soul goes into our knives once we start using them. You wouldn't put your soul in a dishwasher!

No rules. Don't be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn't have to have rules. I don't like it that way.