Funny Culture

The Biggest Anti-Fan of Solitary Gourmet Is Its Own Lead Actor

Matsushige Yutaka held a press conference about the show's future, and fans immediately read it as him trying to quit again.

· 7 min · Togetter

What's going on

Kodoku no Gurume (Solitary Gourmet) is a Japanese late-night drama that has been quietly running since 2012. It follows Inogashira Goro, a middle-aged import goods salesman who wanders into restaurants across Japan and eats alone — no phones, no drama, no grand arc. Just a man, a meal, and his inner monologue. Its deliberately minimal premise has turned it into a cult hit not just in Japan but across East Asia.

Matsushige Yutaka, the actor who has played Goro from the very first episode, appeared at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan to discuss the show's future. He said he isn't sure how much longer he can keep eating on camera at his age, and that he feels the need to "find a path to pass the role to someone else." He also called the show "basically the only thing I have left."

Fans immediately translated that: he's trying to quit again. Matsushige has become something of a running joke among viewers — affectionately nicknamed the show's biggest anti-fan, not because he hates it, but because he has a well-documented history of hunting for graceful exits that somehow never materialize. The press conference also touched on Japan's film industry more broadly, where Matsushige expressed concern that the country is "falling behind in Asia" on production conditions and pay.

Comments

@tx_kodokugurume — Official
🔔 NEWS 🔔 Matsushige Yutaka appeared at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan press conference! He talked about what goes on behind the scenes as Inogashira Goro, and shared his thoughts on the show’s future — including overseas expansion 🎙️ Details here 📝 Solitary Gourmet Season 11, Episode 3 — tonight at 24:27 ⚠️ 15-minute delayed start ⚠️
@oricon — Official
Matsushige Yutaka searching for a sustainable future for Solitary Gourmet — “This show is basically all I have left.” He revealed that since the drama launched in 2012, everyone except him and the technical chief has been replaced. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep eating at my age. I need to figure out a path to hand this off to someone else,” he said. “I’m desperately thinking about how to keep this going as something sustainable.”
He’s finally trying to offload it onto another actor and make a run for it lol
Matsushige Yutaka — the biggest anti-fan of Matsushige Goro himself, never missing a chance to try and quit
Since being an anti-fan couldn’t kill it, he’s switched strategies and is now trying to wrap it up nicely lol
He’s been working toward a graceful exit this year. I guess he figured out that if he just keeps refusing outright, they’ll rope him into theatrical films.
Isn’t he just looking for a way to hand it off because he genuinely doesn’t want to do it anymore?
You can so clearly see him hunting for a clean way out, and I love it.
He’s got this real sense of urgency — like if he doesn’t pass it on soon, they’ll make him keep going until he literally dies.
Because of everything he’s said and done up to now, whatever he says just ends up sounding like “I want to quit cleanly and soon.”
To summarize: “Let me hand this off already.” As expected of the drama whose lead is called its #1 anti-fan.
Trying to dump it on somebody lol
So he’s finally shifted from “end the show” to “find a successor.”
There’s something strangely touching about the #1 anti-fan saying this show is basically all he has left.
Still trying to escape lol
Trying to quit with dignity and I genuinely love it
I thought last year’s theatrical film was supposed to be his graceful sendoff… and then somehow there’s a random film heading to Korea 🇰🇷 because it’s popular there too.
Looking for a clean exit lol
It’s basically Mito Komon (a beloved long-running period drama famous for its comforting, never-changing formula — the same reassuring structure, every episode, for decades) at this point — the format is already set, you just need a new lead. I’d love to see Suzuki Ryohei in the role.
If I had to pick, I’d go with Harada Taizo. (Harada Taizo is a comedian and actor best known as a member of the comedy trio Neptune.)
I actually think Kondo Haruna (a comedian and actress known for her physical comedy and impressions) as the second Goro could genuinely work.
If they’re passing it on, who would even play Goro? Let Jumbo (Harada Taizo’s nickname, earned from his tall frame) do it? lol
I can’t imagine anyone other than Matsushige. He’s irreplaceable. I think the fact that it can’t go on forever is exactly what makes it so precious and dear. Just like how Tora-san (a beloved long-running film series following a lovable wandering salesman — Atsumi Kiyoshi played the title role across nearly 50 films over 27 years, and the two are considered completely inseparable) could only ever be Atsumi Kiyoshi.
It’s not gonna happen. Every copycat food drama has flopped spectacularly, and that kind of says it all — there were some spinoff-style attempts (solo dining drama spinoffs that tried to replicate the formula with different leads) but nothing came close. A one-off I can stomach, but a genuine follow-up at that level? No. / That said, Matsushige-san shouldn’t have to run himself into the ground — if it truly reaches the point where continuing isn’t sustainable, it’d be a shame, but calling it a day would be the right call.
The biggest anti-fan of Solitary Gourmet is its own lead, Matsushige-san — but then he set some ridiculous box office target for the theatrical film and said he’d retire if it didn’t hit it, and the film just went ahead and hit it. So now he can’t quit. I love it so much.
@oricon — Official
Matsushige Yutaka voices concern that Japan is “falling behind in Asia” on film production. He also directed an episode of Solitary Gourmet last year, and spoke about how Japan’s purchasing power and overall economic standing are lagging behind the rest of Asia. “We need to start by improving on-set conditions and pay. This is an issue that people like us — those who get called ‘senior figures’ — need to speak up about,” he said.
Matsushige is huge in Korea and has appeared on a ton of variety shows there, so he’s probably seen the difference firsthand — across the board.
I’ve had clients who agreed to estimates, went through the whole shoot, and then suddenly said “I found cheaper rates on crowdsourcing sites.” (Crowdworks is a major Japanese freelance platform.) So I’d say, “If you’re fine with crowdsourcing-level results, just post it there.” And they’d say, “No, we need better quality than that.”
100% agree on the treatment part. So much talent (at least on the actor side) and “the people at the top” just can’t seem to utilize it properly. That dynamic has genuinely been going on forever.
I feel like the writing is weaker than the visuals.
The low budget problem for Japanese films is real, but Hollywood swings way too far the other way — Robert Downey Jr.’s fee alone for the two new Avengers films is reportedly 12 billion yen. That’s kind of insane 😅
I actually think Japanese film quality has been going up lately — more overseas screenings and everything. The issue, I think, is that DVDs and Blu-rays only come with Japanese audio. If they at least added English subtitles, international buyers would actually pick them up.
He’s already a leading actor and director representing Japan, and he’s still speaking up for the people at the bottom of the industry. It’s not him being “nosy” — it’s that nobody in a position to speak up actually does, so if he doesn’t, nobody will.
It really won’t change unless people at that level push for it… There are actors making the effort, sure, but you also have veterans casually showing up in projects by people who’ve committed crimes or harassment, and there’s just a general lack of awareness. Not just in acting — Japanese society in general, really.

My take

He might just be the only lead actor in history who's genuinely earned the title of his own show's biggest anti-fan. Whatever form it ends up taking, I hope this one keeps going for a long time.

Comments loosely translated for tone.

Source https://togetter.com/li/2686940