Career
Kandagawa entered the cooking profession at the age of 16 when he was hired on as an apprentice cook at the restaurant Nadaman (なだ万) in Osaka. At 22, he left to continue his career at Fukuyanagi (ふく柳). In 1965, he opened his own restaurant, Kandagawa (神田川」) also in Osaka.
Kandagawa is undoubtedly best known to American audiences from his involvement with the cult-hit As a leader of a large faction of chefs who believe in the purity of traditional Japanese cuisine, he rarely entered Kitchen Stadium without a large entourage of other chefs, and often supported apprentices in their challenges of the son
His role in "s storylines was the same as a heel in the world of professional wrestling, an aggressive and somewhat bullying persona for the s to contend against. He personally battled the s on several occasions, winning 3 of his 5 battles.
(His first victory was over Chen Kenichi, and his second was against Koumei Nakamura, who in a storyline point had vowed to retire as an if he lost True to his word, Nakamura"s next battle was his last as a regular )
In addition to the battles, Kandagawa has also been a special guest of Kitchen Stadium in various episodes. He attended the retirement episodes of both Nakamura and Rokusaburo Michiba, who had battled many of Kandagawa"s protégéson
He also acted as a consultant to master chef Tadamichi Ohta and the "Ohta faction" of Japanese cuisine specialists, who were the primary nemesis of the third Japanese, Masaharu Morimoto.
His final appearance in the regular series was during the "King of s" tournament final, where he sat alongside the other s as they watched the final battle between Hiroyuki Sakai and Chen Kenichi. Kandagawa"s final battle took place during the 21st Century Battles special, when he sported a shaven head as proof of his resolution to bring Japanese cuisine into the new millennium. He defeated Hiroyuki Sakai in this battle, which was one of the few that Sakai lost where seafood was the main ingredient.
He is also known for his short temper onscreen and his playfulness toward the camera as shown during his battle with Sakai during their Lotus Root Battle.