, a cable station. It airs 7pm and 10pm PST (10pm and 1am EST) on Fridays and Saturdays and 7pm EST on Sunday. The two slots on Friday will be for the same show. A different (and older) show will be aired during the Saturday/Sunday slots.
The show originally aired in the US in limited areas (New York, Hawaii, Los Angeles and San Francisco) before the Food Network began airing the show. The version shown in the above areas was sometimes subtitled, but mostly not (read: in the original Japanese).
Who are the judges?
For more information on the regular judges, please check out the Hall of Judges. Typically, the first and fourth judge are the regular judges. The two middle judges (one middle judge when there were only three) are usually the two guest commentators. The only qualification the guests seem to have to be a judge is that they like food. That's it. They seem to be mainly actors, actresses and singers, but we've also seen the former owner of the Tokyo Giants baseball team, a sumo stable coach and a retired sports figure. The two guest judges are typically one man and one woman.
Who are the commentators?
Mr. Kenji Fukui is the main commentator that does all of the introductions and most of the talking. The gentleman on the far left is Mr. Yukio Hattori, owner of the Hattori School of Nutrition (one of Hattori's students, Notai Kenji, was in the Battle Udon against Nakamura) Hattori is quite knowledgeable about food and often provides insight and education about the theme ingredient or culinary techniques. The two (or one in earlier shows) guests in the middle are the guest commentators. As explained in the previous question about the judges, the guests tend to be celebrities and not necessarily (actually, rarely) food experts. Typically one woman and one man are the guest commentators/judges.
What is the sidelines reporter Shinichiro Ota saying each time he makes a report?
It's "Fukui-san". He is saying the name of the main commentator, Mr. Kenji Fukui. Since Ota has a tendency to speak rather quickly and since the 'u' sound is unvoiced in certain situations, Mr. Fukui's name becomes "fki-san" or "fii-san". Or "Squeeze-on", as some have said they hear. The "san" part is the Japanese equivalent of "Mr/Mrs/Ms". I'm actually quite impressed that the English dubbing of Ota has that same characteristic fast talking and even the same "Fukui-san" sound.
Story has it that Ota was originally signed on to do the narration (as heard on the FujiTV/Pony Canyon marketed videos; available only in Japanese). In fact, Ota even wore jeans to the first
taping. He was asked to do a post-battle interview and the rest, they say, is history. Ota had to practice to speak as fast as he does now when rattling off a list of ingredients.
Does the challenger know ahead of time what the theme will be?
A week before the show tapes, both the Iron Chefs and the challenger are given a list of 5 ingredients. The final ingredient will be chosen from this list but they don't know which it will be until Kaga announces it during the taping. This way they have some time to request special ingredients and cooking utensils (not to mention special serving dishes like the ice bowls seen on Battle Salmon Roe). Also, after the theme ingredient is announced, the chefs have about 5 minutes to gather their wits and get their cooking strategy hammered out before the "Gong of Fate" sounds. Part of the reason for that is that the cameras and crew need to position themselves for the next shot.
Where is/was the show filmed?
The weekly shows are filmed in FujiTV's V4 studio, the biggest studio they have. It's in Odaiba, which is in near Tokyo Bay. This set is used for many other shows, so the set needs to be taken down after each taping session and reassembled each time. Special gas lines (for the stoves) and water lines are laid down each time, too. The fire department has a few members standing by during tapings to supervise. There is a self guided tour you can take of the studio for 500 yen (less than $5). It's completely in Japanese. To get your ticket for the tour, you have to put 500 yen into a machine and it'll print one up. The machines are located near the gift shop on what appears to be the 4th floor. The tour itself is on the 24th floor where there are a few displays as well as a diorama of the Kitchen Stadium. You can also read through an account of a taping. Since the show has stopped its weekly production, it's unlikely that you'll ever get to see a show in Japan being taped. You won't be able to walk on the studio floor itself, but there is a window allowing a nice view into the floor. Since the set is longer up, there's really not much to see anymore.
