Most restaurants build their reputation with extensive menus. Japanese chef Takamasa Osawa chose a different path. His 10-seat restaurant in Tokyo serves just one dish – biryani. That singular focus earned Biriyani Osawa a Michelin Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Michelin Guide Tokyo and turned Osawa into one of Japan’s best-known ambassadors of Indian cuisine, reported UK-based Pubity.

His growing reputation recently brought him back to India, where he cooked for actor Ram Charan’s family in Hyderabad before hosting a sold-out pop-up at Indian Accent in Mumbai.

Who is Takamasa Osawa?

Takamasa Osawa is the founder of Biriyani Osawa, a reservation-only restaurant in Tokyo’s Kanda neighbourhood. Unlike most chefs, he never trained professionally. Nearly two decades ago, he worked in a regular office job in Japan, and cooking was simply a personal interest.

Everything changed during a visit to Tamil Nadu in 2009. While travelling through southern India, Osawa walked into a local restaurant after spotting a sign advertising biryani. Curious, he ordered a plate without knowing what to expect. The meal left such a lasting impression that he spent years trying to recreate the same flavours after returning home.

Unable to find anything similar in Japan, he began cooking biryani himself. What started as a personal challenge gradually became a lifelong pursuit.

How did Takamasa Osawa become a biryani expert?

Rather than relying on cookbooks or culinary schools, Osawa travelled repeatedly across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to learn directly from local cooks. Every journey introduced him to new regional styles, ingredients and cooking techniques, convincing him there was no single “correct” version of biryani.

Over time, he developed his own recipe by combining influences from different traditions. His rice follows the Hyderabadi style, the gravy takes inspiration from Pakistani cooking and the meat is prepared using a Balochi technique to keep it tender.

Despite experimenting with different styles, Osawa says Hyderabadi biryani remains his favourite because of its balance of flavours. He tested several varieties of basmati rice before choosing rice imported from Punjab and carefully selected Indian spices for their flavour. 

His passion eventually led him to establish the Japan Biryani Association, which promotes biryani through events and collaborations across the country.