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 ⚠️
🔔NEWS🔔 日本外国特派員協会記者会見にご招待いただき、松重豊さんが登壇！井之頭五郎として撮影の裏側から海外も含めた今後の展望を語ってもらいました🎙️ 詳細はこちら📝 『孤独のグルメ Season11』第3話 明日深夜24:27〜 ⚠️15分押しスタート⚠️
✓@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.”
松重豊『孤独のグルメ』持続的な方法を模索 「僕にとってこの作品しかもう残っていない」 2012年にスタートしたが、松重と技術チーフの2人以外入れ替わったという。「僕も年齢的にどこまで食べられるかわからない。次の人に譲るっていう道筋は作らなきゃ」「持続可能な作品としてつなげていこうと、今必死で考えています」と明かした。
He’s finally trying to offload it onto another actor and make a run for it lol
ついに他の役者に押し付けて逃げようとしてて草
Matsushige Yutaka — the biggest anti-fan of Matsushige Goro himself, never missing a chance to try and quit
隙あらばやめようとする松重ゴロー最大のアンチ、松重豊
Since being an anti-fan couldn’t kill it, he’s switched strategies and is now trying to wrap it up nicely lol
アンチしても終わらない作品だからって、いい感じにして終わらそうとしてて草
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.
今年は円満にやめる方向で進めてきたな。さすがに力押しだけだと劇場版とか作らされるってわかったし。
Isn’t he just looking for a way to hand it off because he genuinely doesn’t want to do it anymore?
嫌だから次の人に譲る道を模索してるのでは？
You can so clearly see him hunting for a clean way out, and I love it.
体よく降りようとしてるのが透けて見えてほんま好き。
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.
早く次の人に任せなければこのままじゃ自分が死ぬまでやらされるという強い危機感
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.”
これまでの言動のせいで綺麗な形で早く辞めたがっているようにしか聞こえなくなってしまう。
To summarize: “Let me hand this off already.” As expected of the drama whose lead is called its #1 anti-fan.
要約すると「早くやめたいから交代させろ」ってことですかね 流石主演が1番のアンチと言われたドラマ
Trying to dump it on somebody lol
誰かに押し付けようとしてて草
So he’s finally shifted from “end the show” to “find a successor.”
ついに作品を終わらせるより、後任に譲る方向にしたのか
There’s something strangely touching about the #1 anti-fan saying this show is basically all he has left.
1番のアンチが自分にはこの作品しかもう残っていないってなんか感慨深い
Still trying to escape lol
まだ逃げようとしてて草
Trying to quit with dignity and I genuinely love it
体良く辞めようとしててほんと好き
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.
去年の映画が花道だったような気がしてたがな なんかよくわからんが現地でも人気あるとかで韓国🇰🇷行く変な映画
Looking for a clean exit lol
キレイな形で降りようとしてて草
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.
水戸黄門みたいなもんでフォーマットはもう出来上がってるからあとは主演だけでしょ 鈴木亮平とかで見てみたい
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.)
強いて言うなら原田泰造だと思ってる。
I actually think Kondo Haruna (a comedian and actress known for her physical comedy and impressions) as the second Goro could genuinely work.
近藤春菜さん2代目は割とありだと思ってます。
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
引き継ぐとしたら、誰だろね？ゴローさん。ジャンボにやらせる？w
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.
松重さん以外考えられない。かけがえのない存在。持続可能でない作品だからこそ尊い愛おしい存在だと思う。寅さんが渥美清さん以外有り得ないように。
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.
無理だね 二番煎じの飯ドラマが盛大にコケてるのが答え 「それぞれの〜」とかやってたけどお話にならなかった 一発ネタなら我慢できるが後続であのレベルはあり得ない とは言え松重さんの身体壊してまで続けるべきではないので 本格的に続けるのが厳しいとなれば残念だが打ち切りが妥当でしょう
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.
孤独のグルメ最大のアンチが主演の松重さんだけど、映画で無茶な目標立てて、それ越えられなかったら引退と言ってたのに、普通に越えちゃって辞められないの最高に好き
✓@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.
松重豊、日本の映像制作に"危惧"「アジアの中でもちょっと置いていかれてる」 『孤独のグルメ』で昨年は監督を務めたが「お金の価値も経済力も日本はアジアの中でもちょっと置いていかれてる」と危惧。「まずは現場の待遇や金銭面の部分を引き上げていかなきゃいけない」「僕たち先輩と呼ばれている人たちが声を上げていかなきゃいけない問題」と責任感をにじませた。
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.
松重さん韓国で大人気で向こうのバラエティーとかにもたくさん出演されていたから、多分目の当たりにしたんじゃないかな、あらゆる面での違いを
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.”
最初に見積もり出して合意して撮影までしたけど、途中で急に「クラウドワークス見たらもっと安い」と言い出したクライアントとかありましたからね。クラウドワークス並のできでよろしいならクラウドワークスで発注したら？と言うと、出来はクラウドワークス並じゃ困ると言う。
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.
待遇って部分は100同意 せっかく才能のある方々ばっかりなのに（少なくとも俳優さんたち）それを「上の人間たち」が活かしきれてないっていう構図が、リアルにずーーーっとある
I feel like the writing is weaker than the visuals.
映像より作家が弱い気がする
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 😅
邦画が予算少なすぎなのはそうなんだけど、逆に洋画はキャストにお金を使いすぎだと思う。アベンジャーズ新作２本のロバート・ダウニー・Jr.のギャラだけで120億円はどうかしてるでしょ😅
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.
最近は日本映画のクオリティ上がってると思うねんな。海外上映も増えてるし。 問題はDVDやBlu-rayを売るときに日本語しか入ってないことかと思う。せめて英語字幕を入れたら海外から買ってくれる人もいると思うよ。
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.
彼はすでに日本を代表する俳優であり監督なのに、それでも業界の底辺のために声を上げている。 決して『おせっかい』なのではない。声を上げられる立場の人が誰も言わないから、彼が言わなければ誰も言わなくなってしまう。
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.
実際この層が頑張ってくれないと変わらないんよな… 日本の俳優、頑張ってる人たちもいるけど、性犯罪とかパワハラで問題起こした人の作品にベテランがザクザク出てたり、何かと色々意識が低い 俳優に限らず日本社会そうなんだけど
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.
Source & translation note
Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.
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