It was long before smartphones and social media, when Motokichi Yukimura, known also as the viral omurice master, “Kichi Kichi”, opened his yoshoku restaurant in Kyoto’s historic Uzumasa district in 1978.
Yoshoku —Japanese adaptations of Western-style cuisine — are staples of Japanese cooking, standing alongside traditional cuisine, washoku.
“Omurice was on the menu, right from the beginning,” says Yukimura. However, the dish looked nothing like the one now seen in his famous TikTok and YouTube videos, where a knife slices open a fluffy, golden omelette, spilling over rice.
“I actually learned it from someone,” he reveals.
“My first restaurant was near Toei Kyoto Studio Park in Uzumasa, so actors would often come by. One of them asked me to make an omelette and crack it open over chicken rice. He told me there was a place in Tokyo that served it that way.”
Yukimura, who takes great pride in his cooking, perfected the technique over time. His signature style of omurice was served only as a “secret menu” item until he relocated to his current restaurant in Kyoto’s Pontocho district.
It wasn’t long before television, and later, the digital world, began embracing his omurice, eventually leading Motokichi to focus more and more on the dish.
Credit: SHOHEI KANEKO
“It took five or six years of building it up bit by bit, and what you see now is really the result of that process.“
Even now, I’m still evolving.Motokichi Yukimura
The 70-year-old isn’t shy about trying new things, riding the wave of the digital era with 325,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 295,000 subscribers on YouTube. He’s become a true creator in his own right, handling everything himself, from filming and editing to posting on social media — with occasional advice from his younger staff.
“I like doing things right away. If I ask someone else, I must wait, so I’d rather just learn it myself.”
His trademark pink hair and colourful attire came about when he turned 60 — a milestone known as kanreki in Japan. Kanreki symbolises “rebirth” in the zodiac cycle and is traditionally celebrated with the colour red.
At sixty, I told myself I wouldn’t be embarrassed anymore. I wanted to express who I truly am and do what I love, just as I feel.Motokichi Yukimura
“That’s when I started experimenting with my hair colour. These days, I’ve settled on pink — it’s been my colour for the past three or four years, and it feels right.”
Credit: Kichi Kichi Omurice
“It’s gratitude and daily reflection,” he says. “Reflection isn’t about thinking, ‘I can’t do it.’ Mistakes happen — they might happen again — but what’s important is noticing them quickly and trusting that you’ll improve over time.”
When I make a mistake, I don’t dwell on it. Instead, I focus on doing something fun, something that brings me joy. When you do that, the negative parts start to fade, and your good qualities naturally come forward.Motokichi Yukimura
Yukimura calls this approach “changing the channel,” and it’s something that has helped shape the person he is today. For Yukimura, omurice is “the source of happiness.”
“Sometimes I feel like I was born to share omurice with the world. That’s how deeply it lives inside me now,” he says. Even his business card bears the title “Omurice Evangelist“.
“Among all the yoshoku dishes that are part of Japan’s food culture, omurice is something everyone has loved since childhood. I want to share that joy with the world. I feel it’s my mission to keep spreading omurice, and happiness, even further.”
Motokichi Yukimura will be touring five cities in Australia, starting in Melbourne on 6 November, visiting Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide with his TikTok famous omurice.
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