Rikishi (Japan, Osaka)

In Osaka's Tsuruhashi district, this chanko-nabe restaurant unabashedly showcases one of the heirs of sacred Japanese wrestling. The former rikishi (sumo wrestler) turned restaurateur embodies a tradition where the meal is inseparable from performance, care, and lineage.

Chanko-nabe , a dense stew made with meat, fish, vegetables, and tofu, is prepared in large quantities in heya (sumo stables), where younger disciples cook for their elders. This dish is not just a source of calories: it perpetuates the gestures, hierarchies, and bonds that unite generations of wrestlers.

On the façade, the vertical banners ( nobori ) - traditionally used during sumo tournaments - become a tool of communication and pride. Each color, each kanji, places this place in an emotional map where the body, the writing and the cuisine tell the same story: that of an art of living where identity is cooked over a slow fire.