Shinya Tasaki ( Japanese name: 田崎真也 born: 21 March 1958) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in fin ...

who was named best sommelier in the world in 1995 by the

Association de la Sommellerie Internationale The Association de la Sommellerie Internationale is a nonprofit organization founded in Reims in 1969 to develop and promote the sommelier profession around the world. Every three years, it holds a competition in an international city and names ...

. Tasaki is the only Asian national ever to win the title of the Best Sommelier of the World, and he was awarded the Yellow Ribbon Medal of Honor by the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

Media appearances

In 1998, Tasaki appeared on Fuji TV's ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

'' as a challenger and became the only one to not be a professional chef and still win a battle after he bested Iron Chef Italian Masahiko Kobe with fatty tuna as the theme. Though it was not an explicit stipulation of the battle, by virtue of Tasaki being a world champion sommelier, both Tasaki and Kobe paired each of their dishes with various wines. He was also invited back to perform duties as a sommelier during the series finale.

References

External links

*
tasaki-shinya.com
Sommeliers 1958 births People from Sagamihara Living people {{japan-bio-stub